Fellowship Of Fate
by Elves are awesome
Summary: Everyone is bound to their fate. As Frodo takes the ring south another fellowship forms. Bringing hope when there is none. (1st in the Dark Destiny Series, Based off the PS2 game Third Age)
1. Fate

**Author's Note: This fic is based on the PS2 game Third Age, I can't promise a specific update schedule, since I have a pretty hectic, and random schedule. Anyway hope you enjoy, please review.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Lord Of The Rings, that belongs to the Tolkein family and Middle Earth Enterprises, the Third Age belongs to E.A, I only own my oc's.**

**OC List:**

**Elerrina - Half Elf**

**Nimruzir - Half Elf**

**Niluben - Dunedain**

**Thalion - Elf***

**Anawien - Elf***

**Aradur - Elf***

**Argalad - Elf***

**Lithoniel - Elf***

**Elaran - Dunedain***

**Silanna - Dunedain***

**(* Might be mentioned in this fic, will probably be more important in a sequel however.)**

**Elvish will be in italics**

**Mental communication will be in bold italics**

**Conversations will be in speech marks like "this"**

**Thoughts/Flashbacks will be like 'this'**

**Chapter 1: Fates Entwined**

"I see you've recovered."Aranel joked, making his way over to where his sister was practicing.

"It was only a broken arm."She replied.

"And a wound on your leg and another on your face."He pointed out. She rolled her eyes.

"That's nothing, you know I've had worse."She replied, now it was Aranel's turn to roll his eyes, unfortunately it was true.

"Well if you are better, how about we take a hunting trip?"He asked.

"Of course, it's been too long."She answered. She was not like most elleths, she was a warrior, like her brother. As the two walked side by side to the stables they looked almost like mirror images of each other, for they were twins and looked almost identical.

When they arrived Idrial walked over to her mount, Sirdal.

"It has been too long mellonamin."She whispered, softly stroking the horse's muzzle. Aranel walked over and fed the horse an apple.

"I see that you have been taking care of her in my abscence."Idrial muttered.

"She is getting old Ria, you need a new horse."Aranel said, as kindly as he could.

"Instead of hunting I might just take her out for a ride, is that alright?"Idrial asked.

"Of course, be safe."Aranel answered.

"I'll be back at sundown."Idrial replied, leading her horse out of the stables. She mounted and rode into the forest.

They rode through the forest and made it to the river, Idrial led Sirdal into the river and the horse relaxed, the healing qualities of the river taking effect.

"Mellonamin, I fear that Aranel is right, will I really have to let you go?"Idrial whispered, a tear falling down her face. She dismounted and sat on the river bank as Sirdal grazed. Since returning from Rivendell she had been much more content and peaceful, cherishing each second that she was alive.

Suddenly a soft whinny escaped Sirdal as she laid down in the grass, this was to be the end, Idrial knelt by her head, gently stroking the mare's mane.

"Thank you for being such a trustworthy companion all these years. I love you mellonamin."Idrial whispered. Sirdal's body relaxed and she let out a sigh, a look of content on her face.

Idrial stood up, realising she would have a long trek back, she grabbed a few leaves that still remained on the forest floor, crumpled them and watched them blow away in the wind while whispering a prayer for Sirdal.

A similar breeze was sweeping through Eregion, a ranger was out on patrol near where precious memory was kept. He knelt before two mounds covered in grass and flowers.

"Blest be your name and memory." He whispered before getting up again and moving on, it was tradition to say a prayer when walking past those graves as it was for the graves of the chieftains.

These grave however were argubly less important, they were the graves of Aradur and Anawien, and while it seems harsh, their deaths were the best thing to happen to the Dunedain for a long time. Their deaths led two of their children to the rangers, which changed them forever, and helped protect the line of Isildur.

The Dunedain had saved them and in turn they had saved the Dunedain.

To the south a small family were riding to Rohan after being banished, the family was mother, father and daughter. They had been banished when the daughter had refused an arranged marriage, not that it bothered her, Rohan was less demanding than Gondor.

A man rode towards them on a chestnut brown horse. His armour bore the symbol of the rohirrim and he carried a spear.

"What is your buisness?"He questioned.

"We seek refuge here."The woman replied.

"Evil is upon our lands, there is little refuge near Edoras."The rider replied grimly. The young woman named Morwen was curious, did the rider hate his realm.

"Why?"She asked.

"There is a sickness upon the king, he cannot tell friend from foe."The rider said darkly. The family rode on, and as they left the rider couldn't help but stare at the young woman.

It was dark in Lothlorien where Idrial was currently running back to Caras Galadhon, her grandparents were rather protective and there was no doubting how much trouble she would be in for this. She made it back inside and her grandfather was waiting for her.

"You're late, again."Celeborn muttered.

"I'm sorry, I had to run back, Sirdal has departed this world."Idrial replied breathlessly.

"Fine, however your grandmother wishes to speak to you by the mirror."Celeborn said, slightly less angry.

Idrial walked to where her grandmother was waiting and sat down on a bench.

"A year without training and I am tired from running from the Nimrodel back here."She said, half-joking.

"Next time be more careful."Galadriel replied.

"We have recieved word of a secret council in Rivendell and I must choose someone to attend, since I know what it is about, I have chosen you."Galadriel explained.

"Is that all?" Idrial asked.

"There is one other thing."Galadriel replied.

"There is a man of Gondor who goes by the name of Berethor, his mind has been poisoned although he is not aware of it. He will be in Eregion near the end of the year, you are to be his guardian."

**A/N: Sorry if it is short I wrote it on my phone and don't have a word count.**

**Please review.**


	2. Crossed Paths

**Author's Note: So here is the new chapter, hope you like it.**

**Disclaimer: I only own my OC's (listed in chapter 1) The rest belongs to Tolkien and E.A**

**Elvish will be in italics.**

**Chapter 2: Crossed Paths**

He heard someone pull back on a bow string and signalled the guards to stop then drew an arrow. The other person was in the trees, they released their arrow as a warning shot and it buried itself in the tree that was ever so slightly in front of him. He recognised the fletching on the arrow and grinned.

"You give yourself away too easily."He teased.

"I spotted you two leagues away."A feminine voice replied, she jumped out of the tree.

"Hello again Idrial, it has been too long mellonamin."He said kindly.

"Well Legolas that would be because last time I saw you, I was wounded and you were on death's door."Idrial joked.

"Are you heading to Rivendell?"Legolas asked.

"Yes. I have been walking."Idrial answered.

"Well you must be tired, here ride with me."Legolas replied, Idrial jumped up onto the back of his horse and they set off towards Rivendell.

Elerrina was sat in the gardens with Nimruzir as he played with his favourite teddy bear.

"When is ada coming back?"He asked.

"I don't know ion-nin."Elerrina answered while sighing. Nimruzir's face suddenly lit up.

"Auntie Idrial!"He called, Idrial smiled and hugged him.

"You really are growing up fast aren't you?"Idrial said kindly.

"I'm going to be big and strong like ada."Nimruzir replied proudly, a sad smile appeared on Elerrina's face.

"Why don't you go ask Legolas if he will help you shoot?"Idrial said, seeing Elerrina's sad expression.

"Okay!"Nimruzir cheered, running down to the archery fields. Idrial sat beside Elerrina and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Elegost hasn't visited then?"Idrial asked.

"No, I don't know if he is even alive, and if he is what if he doesn't love me anymore?"Elerrina said sadly.

"He does love you. He sent you away to protect you, when it's safe again you will be reunited, I promise."Idrial reassured her.

"I hope so."Elerrina muttered.

"You are lucky to have found someone who loves you. Now go join Nimruzir, I need to go see my uncle."Idrial replied, unbeknownst to them Aragorn had been listening, he had hoped Elerrina would know of Elegost's whereabouts, he hadn't been seen for a while now. Arwen snuck up behind him and tapped his shoulder.

"Spying on my cousin?"She questioned.

"I was hoping to find out where Elegost is."Aragorn defended.

"I know. It's been a while since she has visited."Arwen replied.

"Well we were wounded last time."Aragorn joked.

Idrial headed down to the archery fields after visiting her uncle and was suprised that Legolas was the only one there.

"Are you that insufferable?"She joked as she walked over.

"You put up with me. Although you have tried to kill me."Legolas protested.

"That was one time! And you did deserve it."Idrial teased.

"Because that makes it better."Legolas replied.

"Of course it does."Idrial joked, she was young compared to most elves, that was probably why she liked to joke and tease her friends.

"I will never understand you."Legolas replied.

"Good, then you will never know my tactics."Idrial said, quite seriously.

"You use tactics?"Legolas questioned, pretending to be shocked, Idrial went to hit him but he ducked, grabbed her by the waist and threw her over his shoulder as though she weighed nothing.

"Legolas stop it!"She snapped, between laughing of course. Aragorn and Arwen were walking past and smiled.

"Are they friends or..."

"I honestly don't know anymore, and I am supposed to be their best friend."Aragorn replied, he walked towards them, a huge grin on his face as Legolas set Idrial back down on the ground.

"Alright you two stop flirting, we need to have a competition."Aragorn teased them, both elves turned an intresting shade of pink but Idrial was the first to respond.

"We weren't flirting."She protested.

"Sure. Now, archery contest?" Aragorn asked.

"No, sparring contest otherwise Legolas will win."Idrial answered.

"I will beat you at sparring as well."Legolas replied.

"Really, I've known you for over eighty years now and have you beaten me?"Idrial questioned.

"No."Legolas muttered, Idrial smiled and drew her blade.

"2530 years practice, you get pretty good with a blade."She replied.

"2750 years practice with a bow and you get pretty good."Legolas stated.

"But you're old."Idrial teased.

"Not that much older than you."Legolas defended.

"Almost five centuries."Idrial replied.

"Are we going to argue or fight?"Aragorn asked impatiently.

"Fine, since you're so eager I'll spar with you first."Idrial answered.

Elrond and Glorfindel watched them spar as they walked past.

"Your niece is very talented with a blade."Glorfindel stated.

"Still I worry for her safety."Elrond replied.

"I could teach her, so that she is even better and safer in battle."Glorfindel offered.

"That would be very kind of you."Elrond replied.

"You are worried."Glorfindel stated.

"The enemy tried to kill her and Aranel, I'm not convinced they won't do the same again."Elrond explained.

"They are safe in the north."Glorfindel replied.

"But their fate draws them south."Elrond muttered.

**A/N: Sorry if this felt like a filler, I just wanted to get some interaction in before the action.**

**Please review**


	3. The Fellowship Of The Ring

**Author's Note: Sorry that the last chapter was short I will try to make up for it in this chapter.**

**Disclaimer: Everything belongs to Tolkein and E.A except my OCs which are listed in chapter 1.**

**Elvish will be in italics.**

**Chapter 3: The Fellowship Of The Ring**

The next day the council took place, Idrial sat beside Aragorn. She may have been here representing Lorien, but first and foremost she was a ranger.

Everyone became quiet as Elrond was about to speak.

"Strangers from distant lands you have been called here to discuss a matter of great importance. Bring forth the ring Frodo." At this Frodo placed the ring on the pedestal before going back to his seat beside Gandalf.

"So the legends are true. In a dream I saw a pale light in the growing darkness, it was Gondor. By the blood of my people are your lands kept safe."Boromir said, in some strange haze. Idrial jumped to her feet upon hearing this.

"It is by the blood of the rangers that the North is kept safe, you fight for yourself and no one else!" She protested, Elrond sighed.

"The rangers so brave you hide who you are. Why not show us if your people are as courageous as you say?"Boromir questioned, Idrial removed her hood revealing her true identity.

"Happy now?"Idrial said sarcastically before sitting down.

"The ring is a gift of the enemy, give it to Gondor!"Boromir protested.

"You cannot wield it, none of us can." Aragorn replied.

"And what would a ranger know of this matter?"Boromir questioned, Legolas jumped to his feet.

"That is no mere ranger, that is Aragorn son of Arathorn you owe him your allegiance."He argued.

"This is Isildur's heir?"Boromir said harshly.

"And heir to the throne of Gondor."Legolas replied.

"Havo dad Legolas."Aragorn said calmly.

"Gondor has no king, Gondor needs no king."Boromir yelled.

"There is only one course of action left to us, the ring must be destroyed. One of you must do this."Elrond proclaimed.

"Well what are we waiting for!" Gimli exclaimed, he struck the ring with his axe and it shattered.

"The ring may not be destroyed by any weapon we possess Gimli son of Gloin, it must be destroyed in the fires of mount doom in which it was made."Elrond explained, the council fell silent and Legolas looked at Idrial and shook his head. He thought he knew what she was thinking.

"It is a gift, give the ring to Gondor!"Boromir insisted.

"Have you heard nothing Lord Elrond has said, the ring must be destroyed!"Legolas argued.

"And I suppose you think you're the one to do it!"Gimli yelled, prompting an argument between the elves and the dwarves, while they bickered Idrial was arguing with Boromir. Aragorn, Elrond, Frodo and Gandalf were the only ones that remained in their seats and weren't arguing.

"I will take it!"Frodo said amongst the commotion, he stood up and spoke louder.

"I will take the ring to Mordor, though I do not know the way."He announced, the arguing stopped and everyone turned to face him.

"I will help you bear this burden Frodo Baggins, as long as it is your burden to bear."Gandalf replied, walking over to him.

"If by life I can protect you, I will. You have my sword."Aragorn said kindly.

"And my bow."Legolas added.

"And my axe!"Gimli finished.

"You bear the fates of us all, it is only fitting that I join you."Boromir stated.

"Hey Mr Frodo ain't going anywhere without me!"Sam yelled, running into the council.

"Or us!"Merry and Pippin added.

"Indeed it would appear I cannot seperate you even when he is invited to a council and you are not."Elrond replied.

"Nine companions, you shall be the Fellowship Of The Ring."He announced.

The council was dismissed and Frodo went to sit in one of the small gardens, Idrial followed him, curious as usual.

"Frodo Baggins, I wish I could join you on your quest but my fate leads me elsewhere. It was very brave of you to volunteer."Idrial said kindly, she then unclipped a dagger from her belt.

"This is Hathelas, it means leaf blade, I am giving it to you, may it protect you. This way at least I can say that I helped in some way, otherwise I wouldn't forgive myself." She continued, Frodo took the dagger and unsheathed it, there were intricate leaf patterns on the hilt but the blade was very sharp.

"Thank you, it looks like a good blade."Frodo replied.

"I found it in my father's forge a few years ago."Idrial stated.

"If it is an heirloom I can't take it."Frodo said quickly, offering Idrial the dagger.

"My parents died when I was young, the forge now belongs to myself and my brother, keep it for it is no heirloom."Idrial explained.

"Thank you."Frodo replied, Idrial smiled and left.

At the training grounds Aragorn, Boromir and Legolas were teaching the hobbits how to use swords.

"I wouldn't have Legolas teach you, his specialty is a bow."Idrial said teasingly as she walked over, Legolas sent her a mock glare.

"Fine if you think you can do better, go ahead."Legolas replied, Idrial smirked and began to teach Merry some basic attacks.

That evening everyone gathered in the Hall Of Fire as Bilbo recited some of his poems and sang some old songs. When nobody was looking Idrial and Legolas snuck out into the forest.

"Why didn't you volunteer?"Legolas asked once they were away from Rivendell.

"I know where my fate leads me, and it wasn't with the fellowship."Idrial answered.

"Then where?"Legolas questioned.

"I can't tell you, but I will still get to kill some orcs, I can assure you that."Idrial replied.

"We leave in the morning."Legolas muttered.

"Promise that you and Aragorn will protect each other, I won't be around to help you and I don't know what I would do if either of you were hurt."Idrial said quietly.

"I promise, besides I can take care of myself."Legolas replied.

"You really can't."Idrial teased.

"Thank you mellonamin."Legolas said sarcastically.

"Just be careful."Idrial replied, they stopped walking and he turned to face her.

"I will be fine."He assured her, before she could respond he leaned down and kissed her, catching her off guard but they didn't stop until they needed to pause for breath. For a while they stood in silence until Legolas finally spoke.

"We should head back."He muttered.

"Aragorn?" He turned around and saw Idrial.

"Are you alright?"He asked.

"I just came to remind you to be careful."Idrial answered, Aragorn walked over and hugged her.

"May Elbereth watch over you and keep you safe gwador-nin."She said kindly.

"We will be fine."Aragorn replied.

"Good luck gwador-nin."Idrial muttered.

"Stay safe gwaleth."Aragorn replied.

The Fellowship departed, Arwen and Elrond were there to see them off. A few hours later Idrial left on her own quest in Eregion.

As she walked she passed the glade where the two graves where, she knelt before them.

"Ada, naneth I miss you, I wish you were still here." She whispered, she soon got up and left, orcs roamed the land and it was dangerous to stay in the same place for too long.

She was scouting from a tree when she saw them, three of the Nazgul were by a broken bridge, her pulse quickened as she heard a horse coming closer she grabbed her bow and notched an arrow, aiming at one of the ringwraiths.

**Elvish Translations:**

**Mellonamin - My Friend**

**Gwador nin - My brother (but not actually related more like blood brother)**

**Gwaleth nin - My sister (Again with the not related but seem like siblings.)**

**Ada - Father**

**Naneth - Mother**

**A/N: Hope you enjoyed this chapter, the main action will be starting soon.**

**Please review.**


	4. Chance Or Fate?

**Author's Note: And now the real action begins, hope you enjoy this chapter.**

**Disclaimer: I only own my OCs (listed in chapter 1) everything else belongs to Tolkein and E.A**

**Elvish will be in italics.**

**Chapter 4: Chance or Fate?**

She watched carefully as she kept her bow trained on the Nazgul, the person riding towards them was a Gondorian man, a soldier, probably the one she was supposed to protect.

"Move aside creature you are in my way."He said confidently, Idrial wasn't sure if he was being very brave or very stupid, not that there is much difference. His horse bolted and he raised his blade.

"Obey or you shall sleep with the worms this night."The Nazgul hissed, their voices so sinister that a chill went down Idrial's spine.

They attacked the Gondorian so Idrial shot one of them, it paused for a moment then continued to attack. One of the other Nazgul knocked the Gondorian down, Idrial jumped out the tree and blocked the Nazgul's blade with her own as it went to kill him.

"Go back to the shadow slaves of Sauron!"Idrial yelled, the Nazgul showed no sign of backing down. She remembered an old elvish spell that seemed to be the only way she would make it out alive. She recited the words and a huge torrent of water swept away the Nazgul.

She knelt beside the Gondorian, seeing that the Nazgul did manage to wound him.

"What grace is given to me let it pass to him, let him be spared. To you I bestow this gift of my people it braces the soul and binds the hearts of others."She said softly, placing a hand over the wound.

The Gondorian regained consciousness. He stood up, awestruck by the elf before him, not only had she healed him but she had warded off the Nazgul as well.

"I live because of your bravery my lady, how may I repay you?"He offered kindly.

"There is no time now, you must be taken to an outpost to have your wounds healed."She replied simply, not wanting to over complicate things, she walked ahead and he followed reluctantly.

They continued down the path but it did not take long for him to become frustrated.

"I heard a voice on the road."He spoke up.

"Yes I know."Idrial replied calmly.

"But..."

"Patience."

"I'm looking for Boromir of Gondor have you seen him?"

"No but I do see orcs ahead."Idrial answered, drawing her sword, Berethor copied her and they charged at the orcs.

It was a quick battle, the orcs were easily overpowered and defeated. The two continued on to the outpost and managed to reach it at dusk.

"Take what you need, there are supplies and equipment, I will find a healer."Idrial said, she never seemed to show any emotion, no anger, no happiness, no sadness, but that was more than likely because she was an elf.

A healer walked in and tended to his wounds while Idrial sharpened her sword.

"_The number of orcs on the road is increasing."_Idrial stated

_"I know, we may no longer be able to use this outpost, they will slaughter us if we stay."The healer replied._

_"You should stay, I will find a way to deal with the orcs, they roam free destroying everything..."_

_"It is protected with wards and spells, do not worry it won't be destroyed. _Both of you need to rest, I will keep watch."The healer said kindly, the Gondorian walked over to Idrial.

"I thank you for your aid, I am Berethor, captain of the citadel guard of Gondor."He said, hoping to break the ice.

"I am Idrial, a Galadhrim commander in my home of Lothlorien."She replied.

At dawn they left the outpost and walked about a league before stopping.

"Hide."Idrial muttered, they hid behind a rock as a swarm of crows flew overhead.

"What was that?"Berethor asked.

"Crebain from Dunland, the white wizard has betrayed us."Idrial said urgently, running ahead, Berethor followed her and they came to a clearing where a group of elves were being attacked.

Idrial fought like she was possessed, her burning hatred of the orcs taking control of her. She fought the orcs with her sword as well as using her spirit powers. Berethor decapitated several orcs and a few more came, one was about to kill an elf when he fought it off, it was the least he could do to repay his debt to Idrial.

The orcs were soon slaughtered and Idrial went to heal the other elves.

"Two were slain, and some are wounded."An elven woman said kindly.

"I am aware. Are you sure that you are alright Randiriel?"Idrial asked.

"We are fine."She answered.

"Hasten to Rivendell, the path should be clear."Idrial replied.

"We will, there were rangers fighting before we were attacked."Randiriel warned.

"Come Berethor, some may yet surive."Idrial said urgently, running ahead.

They came to a pass, not far from the mountains when Idrial's face lit up and she crouched behind a rock, Berethor crouched beside her, now noticing the wounded ranger and the approaching wargs.

"A man, badly wounded but still alive."Berethor muttered.

"Wait for the wargs to approach."Idrial said under her breath.

"They'll kill him."Berethor protested, the wargs got closer and he ran at them, the ranger jumped up and quite skillfully killed both wargs.

"You live."Berethor said, astounded.

"No thanks to you. Can't you see I was hunting them?"The ranger replied.

"Perhaps we should finish off the rest of the pack first."Idrial cut in as she killed a warg. The two men went and killed the other wargs that were approaching.

Dusk soon fell and they sat inside a small cave with only their cloaks for extra warmth, of course Berethor didn't know the region like they did so his cloak wasn't very thick.

"_Elegost, you realise that Elerrina thinks your dead, Nimruzir wants to know about his father and as far as Aragorn is concerned you have disappeared."_ Idrial said, slightly irritated.

"_How am I supposed to face her, she could have died because of me and I let an entire camp be destroyed, I can't face Aragorn again."_ Elegost replied.

"_You did everything you could to save that camp, you were hugely outnumbered. And Elerrina wants to see you again, she misses you and thinks that you no longer love her."_ Idrial tried to reassure him.

"_Love has no place in a war."_ Elegost muttered.

**A/N: Sorry this took so long, I wasn't able to work on the chapter for two days and was kinda struggling to write this.**

**Please Review.**


	5. Go Where The Path May Lead

**Author's note: Updates will only be once a week from now on. And sorry this took so long, I have had tons of coursework and exams as well.**

**Disclaimer: I only own my OCs (listed in chapter 1)**

**Elvish will be in italics.**

**Chapter 5: Go Where The Path May Lead**

Idrial kept watch that night, troubled by Elegost's sudden change of opinion. He had always believed in love, and when he met Elerrina he was overjoyed and they lived in wedded bliss for several years, until the camp that Elegost was in charge of was attacked, they had been in Rivendell at the time but nobody else survived. Elegost blamed himself and had his family stay in Rivendell, he could never forgive himself and he thought that his family wouldn't forgive him either.

That was not the only thing troubling her that night, she could sense her brother's bond getting stronger to the point where they could almost reach each other's minds, but why was he near or in Eregion?

She let it slip her mind as the sun came up and they left. Elegost led them to an elven healing altar, most likely abandoned in the second age. When they reached it they found a group of orcs there. They fought off the orcs easily, once they were defeated Elegost stabbed them again and Berethor gave him a strange look.

"You want to make sure they are good and dead, some are mighty hard to kill." He muttered.

"Even these sacred places are no longer safe." Idrial replied.

"Where did you get those wounds?" Berethor asked.

"At the hands of a mordor orc, whose life I intend to shorten considerably for he took something of great value from me." Elegost answered.

"What was it?" Berethor questioned.

"You help me slay him and you shall find out." Elegost replied.

"You rangers of the north are full of riddles!" Berethor yelled.

"And how do I know I can trust you?!" Elegost retorted.

"I vouch for him, in the name of Lady Galadriel." Idrial cut in, stepping between the two.

"That's good enough for me." Elegost muttered, walking ahead.

"Who are you to speak in the name of a ruler of elves?" Berethor questioned.

"Help Elegost with his quest and help me return to Lorien to inform Lady Galadriel of the danger, then you will know all." Idrial answered, catching up to Elegost.

_"I am only staying because you are here, that Gondorian is trouble I know it, but that may just be his kind, you can't trust them as far as you can throw them." _Elegost muttered.

"_You trust me, and that is going to need to be enough, I cannot tell you yet it is too dangerous." _Idrial replied.

_"Then where is your trust in me? I have never put you in danger." _Elegost questioned.

"_There are too many spies here looking for information, it is too risky to speak of such things here. For now you must trust me." _Idrial explained.

_"_Only because you are gwaleth-nin." Elegost said while sighing.

"And you are gwador-nin. I will tell you all, when the time is right." Idrial replied while smiling.

"Why is it that I always end up helping you even when it is almost suicide?" Elegost joked.

"You owe me." Idrial replied.

"Why?" Elegost asked.

"I trained you and your brother, persuaded Aragorn to let you become a captain and introduced you to Elerrina." Idrial answered.

"Fair enough." Elegost muttered.

They set up camp for the night and sat around a small fire.

"So what did that orc take from you?" Berethor asked.

"A map that revealed the entrance to a lost kingdom." Elegost explained.

"Moria. That place is evil, what is your intrest with it?" Idrial questioned, she had heard the tales of the dwarves marching on Moria after losing Erebor, how the king and his son were slain that day.

"I had been travelling with a dwarf, a friend actually, we were fighting some orcs up in the mountains, but it was a bewitched fight, there was a storm and a landslide carried the dwarf away, in the confusion the orc ripped the map from me. I have to reclaim it, Lord Elrond had presented it to the dwarf as a gift of friendship." Elegost explained.

"We will get that map, and find your friend, I promise." Idrial said kindly.

"So we just have to find one specific orc in all of Eregion, it could be anywhere in Eriador!" Berethor complained.

"We can track it, and it can't have gone far, orcs do not move in daylight it will have found a cave to hide in." Idrial explained.

"So now we must find a dwarf and an orc, I will never find Boromir." Berethor muttered.

"I suggest you rest, you are clearly becoming tired." Idrial replied. Berethor gave an angry stare but settled down to sleep.

"Stay here and keep watch, I'll scout around." Idrial said sternly, drawing her sword, Elegost nodded and kept his bow ready.

She returned about an hour later, sat opposite Elegost and cleaned some blood off her sword.

"I take it you found something." Elegost muttered.

"A couple stray wargs, apart from that it was quiet, too quiet." Idrial replied.

"I'd rather it be quiet than be surrounded by orcs." Elegost said quietly.

"They may be massing somewhere for an attack on the Dunedain or on Rivendell. If they are massing it will make reclaiming the map almost impossible." Idrial replied.

"We will find the dwarf first, I need to know if he survived." Elegost muttered.

"The dwarves are strong, I am sure he survived." Idrial said reassuringly.


	6. Look To The Past But Also To The Future

**Author's Note: Sorry for not updating in ages, I have been busy with school and only just had time to write this, there may be a second chapter posted this week if I have time to write it.**

**Disclaimer: I only own my OC's (Listed in chapter 1)**

**Elvish will be in italics**

**Flashbacks/Dreams will be in bold italics.**

**Chapter 6: Look to the past but also to the future.**

_**Darkness surrounded them, there was no light left anywhere.**_

_**"I see you." A sinister voice hissed, her breathing quickened as she saw a body dragged towards her.**_

_**"Ar." She whispered, kneeling beside him.**_

_**"There is nobody left to save you now." The voice hissed again, bringing a huge mace down to kill her.**_

Idrial woke up with a start, breathing heavily, Elegost raised an eyebrow at her but she just shook her head, getting up to sit beside him.

"I'll take watch from now, you should get some rest." She said quietly, to avoid disturbing Berethor.

"You were supposed to rest tonight, you're no good to us in battle if you're exhausted." Elegost argued.

"Neither are you, I can go a long time without sleep mellonamin, you on the other hand cannot." She replied.

"This is about more than exhaustion, I know that you couldn't sleep, why?" Elegost questioned.

"I saw my worst fears come to pass." Idrial muttered.

"What were they?" He asked.

"Aranel was dead, and there was no light left in the world, Sauron was at his full strength again, and he killed me." Idrial said quietly, staring at the ground, Elegost placed a comforting hand on her back.

"It won't happen, Aranel is strong, and Sauron could not return to his full strength unless he had the one ring which has been lost for centuries." He stated.

"It is no longer lost." Idrial whispered, looking up at Elegost.

"This evil has been kept at bay for years, it will not defeat us now." Elegost replied.

They left as soon as the sun rose and continued to wander through the forest until Elegost noticed something.

"The Dwarf passed this way." He muttered as he crouched down by some tracks on the ground, Idrial however had noticed something else further ahead.

"It is not only your friend who has passed this way, there are orc and troll tracks." She replied.

"Quiet, both of you, I hear something." Berethor said hastily, peering over a boulder.

"It's coming from inside that cavern!" Idrial yelled, running inside. Elegost followed her, full of hope and Berethor trailed behind, drawing his sword before he entered.

"Well Elegost, it's about time!" Hadhod snapped while trying to fend off the troll, the others rushed to help him. With all four of them fighting together it did not take long to defeat the troll.

"First swarms of orcs now this." Hadhod grumbled, sitting on a small rock.

"You are wounded." Idrial muttered.

"Of course I'm wounded! I have been fighting orcs and a troll for three days without a chance to rest, I was bound to get the odd wound!" Hadhod complained.

"Let me help you." Idrial said kindly.

"An elf is the last person I would have help me." Hadhod spat.

"Hadhod if you want your wounds to be healed properly, let her help you." Elegost said sternly.

"Fine." Hadhod muttered. He grumbled to himself in Khuzdul as Idrial treated the wounds.

"You said orcs were attacking you as well?" Berethor questioned.

"Aye, one of them dropped my map, I don't know how it got a hold of that." Hadhod explained.

"If orcs are coming we should leave as soon as possible. Berethor, Elegost can you two keep watch while I heal these wounds?" Idrial asked.

"Sure, we will leave as soon as you are done." Elegost answered.

They left a few minutes later, Hadhod led them towards the entrance to Moria, they carefully made their way around the edge of the lake.

"The gates are destroyed!" Hadhod yelled, Idrial crouched down in front of it.

"This is the work of something far greater than orcs, and trolls do not roam here." She muttered.

"It took place recently as well, maybe a few hours ago." Elegost replied, they heard noises behind them.

"The lake!"Berethor yelled, drawing his sword. They turned round and hastily drew their weapons as the Watcher in the water reached the surface, Idrial noticed that some of it's tentacles had been cut short and when she looked across at Elegost it seemed like he noticed it as well.

"Stand back! Towards the door!" He yelled, they backed up and as the watcher went to attack them, they dodged and the watcher ended up pulling the debris from the door. Once there was a way in Elegost shot the Watcher and Idrial threw a knife. They ran inside as the door collapsed again while the Watcher continued to attack them.

"We're safe." Berethor said breathlessly.

"My kin will welcome us." Hadhod replied.

"I wouldn't be so sure." Idrial muttered as she lit a torch.

"This fight took place centuries ago." Elegost stated, looking at the bodies. Hadhod fell to his knees, sobbing.

"My sons, they fought here." He said through his tears.

"Let me help you avenge them, for your people." Idrial said kindly, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"I will kill every goblin that draws breath." Hadhod spat.

**Elvish Translations:**

**mellonamin - my friend**

**A/N: That's it for this chapter I will try to update as soon as possible, if I can actually find time to write the next chapter, if I have time it will probably be up on Monday.**

**Please Review.**


	7. The Forgotten Kingdom

**Author's Note: I finally managed to update. Thanks to Violet Eagle for helping me with ideas, I don't know what I would have done without them.**

**Disclaimer: I only own my OC's that are listed in Chapter 1.**

**Elvish will be in italics.**

**Flashbacks/Dreams will be in bold italics.**

**Chapter 7: The Forgotten Realm**

They slowly began navigating the neverending darkness of Moria.

"Goblin scum have ruined this once great kingdom of my folk." Hadhod grumbled as they walked.

"Legends say that the dwarves delved too deep, and a demon of ancient times was released." Idrial muttered, glancing around with her sword tight in hand.

"Do not insult my kindred!" Hadhod growled.

"I was not insulting your kin, just remembering a legend I had been told." Idrial retorted, Elegost rolled his eyes at the two of them and glanced at Berethor who seemed to be thinking the exact same thing.

"I suggest you put your differences and grudges behind you if you want to make it out of here alive." Berethor said sternly, Elegost smirked as Idrial frowned. They came to a three-way cross-roads and stopped.

"Which way now?" Elegost asked.

"I do not know." Hadhod answered.

"We will rest here for a while to try and figure it out." Berethor replied, Idrial sat on a rock and shut her eyes.

"Idrial?" Elegost questioned.

"I hear voices, but I don't know where they are coming from." She muttered, keeping her eyes shut.

"Can you tell who?" Elegost asked.

"Aragorn, Legolas and Gandalf, there are several others that I don't recognise. I may be able to tell which way they went." She explained.

"Well I'll leave you to it." Elegost muttered, going to sit with Hadhod.

"I do not know which way." Idrial muttered, standing up.

"Let's just try each tunnel and see if one leads us the right way." Berethor replied, they got up and went down the first tunnel. Everyone kept their weapons at the ready, they did not dare risk an ambush, they followed the tunnel to a huge pit overlook. As they continued to walk towards the center, goblins scurried over and surrounded them. Elegost drew his sword and slung his bow over his back, Hadhod readied his axe, Berethor kept his shield close to him and Idrial drew her long knife so she wielded two blades instead of one.

The goblins charged at them but were soon cut down, almost without a thought. Everyone a perfect balance for each other, showing their supreme strength and skill compared the goblins. Idrial brought down one blade onto a goblins as she decapitated another. Elegost skewered two goblins on the end of his sword. Hadhod swung his axe round, killing several goblins with one blow and Berethor found himself using both shield and sword as a weapon. Hordes of goblins continued to swarm, each goblin slain was replaced by another.

"We cannot hold out!" Berethor called out to the others, trying to make himself heard over the clash of blades.

"We have to, they will give up soon, they suffer heavy losses!" Idrial yelled back, there was no way she would let a rabble of goblins kill her, she would slay every goblin in Moria if that was what it would take to survive.

Suddenly the fighting stopped as a loud bang rang out from the pits below, another came and the goblins fled. Elegost and Idrial hastily put away their swords and grabbed their bows, Elegost notched an arrow into place while Idrial rested her right hand on one of the arrows in her quiver.

As if out of nowhere a skeleton fell from above, Berethor narrowly avoided it landing on his head while Idrial and Elegost fired arrows up to where the skeleton had fallen from.

"Fool of a Took, throw yourself in next time and rid us of your stupidity!' They could hear Gandalf yell, Idrial suddenly felt a wave of guilt, worried that she had injured one of Gandalf's company.

The worry passed instantly as they turned to see a balrog climbing up the wall.

"There is an exit!" Berethor yelled, pointing to it, as soon as he said that the balrog whipped it's tail hard into the rock destroying the path.

"It is no use laddie, let us hope there is another way." Hadhod replied.

"If there isn't it is amazing how the goblins could have taken this place, surely they would have become lost." Idrial muttered, Elegost smirked however Hadhod looked unimpressed.

"At least a stiff wind wouldn't knock me over." Hadhod retorted.

"Do you wish to test the edge of my blade? Otherwise keep your thoughts to yourself." Idrial snapped, Elegost now looked bewildered, this was not like Idrial to be so easily offended, and hostile to a dwarf as well.

_"Is there something troubling you?"_ Elegost asked, Idrial shook her head.

"_It's nothing to worry about, I just don't like being underground."_ Idrial answered casually.

"_I know you too well to believe that is true, you can tell me anything Idrial, you do know that right?"_ Elegost replied.

_"I just want to get out of here, I don't feel like talking right now."_ Idrial said quietly, almost convincing Elegost that it was truly nothing.

"What is this?" Berethor asked, picking up a key from amongst the bones.

"A key to something important, most likely a book of secrets." Hadhod answered, examining it closely.

"Can you lead us there, time is running out!" Berethor said anxiously.

"Hurry, we need to leave now!" Idrial yelled, running ahead, Berethor noticed the worried look in her eyes and her anxious tone, something was definitely wrong.

**A/N: I will try to update sooner than I have been since I have the summer holidays, but don't expect updates to be too frequent, I have revision, cricket and my social life that will all take up a lot of time but I will try my best to update.**

**Please review.**


	8. The Shadow

**Author's Note: Sorry this took so long, I am now on my second week of my summer holidays, hopefully updates will hopefully be more frequent, however I am going away the 9th - 11th August and probably won't have internet, and definitely won't have time to write then, but I will try my best to finish this fic before I go back to school, and the sequel will probably be posted sometime in October, to give me time to sort out my ideas and write a few chapters before I get too busy.**

**Disclaimer: I only own my OC's that are listed in Chapter 1.**

**Elvish will be in italics.**

**Flashbacks will be in bold italics.**

**Chapter 8: The Shadow**

_**She reached up and tried to grasp the sword, but her hands were too small and it was too heavy for her to hold, Aradur smiled and picked up the sword, hanging it back on the wall. He then reached down and scooped up his only daughter.**_

_**"What's that ada?" She asked curiously.**_

_**"It is a sword iel-nin. It is my sword that I used to fight with when the shadow tried to take over." He explained, trying to avoid talking about the war as much as possible.**_

_**"I want to be like you one day and fight the shadow."She said confidently, Aradur smiled.**_

_**"I hope there will be no shadow for you to fight iel-nin." He replied.**_

Idrial shook her head and reminded herself to stay alert, they had no time for reminiscing but it was one of the few memories she had of her parents.

_"The shadow returned though ada, and now I fight it." She muttered to herself._

"We are here at last, the book of secrets." Hadhod announced proudly, opening the book.

"There is a hidden door not far from here, we will be able to pass into the eastern side and reach Khazad-Dum." Hadhod explained.

"We should go now, the sooner we leave, the safer we will be." Idrial replied.

"Until we reach the elf realm ruled by the witch." Hadhod muttered.

"Keep your insults to yourself." Idrial spat, Elegost's eyes widened, Idrial was not the most patient person but she never lost her temper this easily.

_"Care to explain?" Elegost questioned once he had caught up with her._

_"He insulted my family, you expect me to forgive that?" Idrial replied._

_"I expect you to realise that he isn't aware." Elegost said sternly._

_"I'm just protecting the family that I have left." Idrial retorted, walking ahead._ She had just unwittingly confirmed Elegost and Berethor's initial suspicions, something was making her irritable, something was making her stressed and they were going to find out what it was.

They walked in silence for the rest of the way, it was almost as though something or someone was watching them.

"We are here at last, the door to the eastern side." Hadhod announced.

"How long until we reach Khazad-Dum?" Idrial asked.

"A day if we do not stop." Hadhod answered.

"We won't stop then, we will wait until we reach the elves to rest." Berethor decided, he thought he would be able to cope, after all it would only be a few days.

They walked for a few hours before they briefly stopped.

"What's that noise?" Idrial asked, concerned, the rumbling seemed to get closer.

"I think we are about to find out." Elegost replied, darting behind a column. The others followed suit as the noise drew closer.

The rumbling soon became deafening and they found themselves covering their ears, Idrial peered round the column and saw the balrog, she quickly returned to her original spot behind the column to try and avoid being spotted.

They all breathed a deep sigh of relief when it was out of sight.

"It is heading to Khazad-Dum, we must get there before it destroys the only exit!" Hadhod said urgently, running ahead. The others ran with him and hoped for the best.

"Your kin thought it wise to build only one exit!" Idrial snapped.

"We thought that these beasts were wiped out!" Hadhod defended, Idrial just rolled her eyes.

"Why couldn't we have passed over the mountains instead of under them!" Idrial said desperately.

"You saw the avalanche! It would have been suicide!" Elegost yelled.

"And what makes you think we will survive this!" Idrial snapped, the ceiling was starting to crumble and bits of debris were hitting their heads.

"Not much further now!" Hadhod yelled.

They ran down a set of stairs and were almost nearly at the bridge when they came to an abrupt halt.

"It's Gandalf!" Idrial yelled.

"He is fighting the balrog!" Elegost added.

"We must aid him!" Berethor ordered. They rushed towards balrog, Elegost distracted it by shooting it as they ran to Gandalf's side.

"I have already sent my own companions away from this monstrosity. Leave now, I will join you in the Golden Wood!" Gandalf ordered. Berethor, Elegost and Hadhod obeyed him but Idrial would not.

"You must allow us to aid you!" Idrial protested.

"It is not safe! This shadow is much more powerful than you!" Gandalf yelled, Berethor and Elegost ran over and grabbed Idrial's arms, carrying her out of the mines. As they did she saw the Balrog tumble into the abyss, dragging Gandalf with it's whip.

Once they were outside Idrial sunk to her knees and stared at the ground.

"We should hide in this cave tonight and make for the forest in the morning." Elegost said firmly, finding a cave in the side of the mountain. The others climbed into the cave but Idrial stayed silent and sat in the same place.

Dusk was about to fall and Idrial still remained where she was, not moving an inch. Berethor climbed out of the cave and knelt beside her.

"Something troubles you." Berethor stated.

"Gandalf taught me how to fully use spirit powers. You should avoid me for your own safety, those important to me always seem to die." Idrial muttered, not moving.

"I understand, I lost my father when I was younger, he was killed in battle, trying to defend Osgiliath. Since then I have wanted to protect my people. But death is common in this world, we have to learn control our grief." Berethor said kindly.

"When did you become so wise?" Idrial asked curiously.

"Being in the presence of an elf brings a new perspective to things." Berethor answered.

"I am not wise like most of my kind. The eldar see me as a foolish child." Idrial replied, staring at the ground.

"Then they have poor judgement." Berethor said kindly.

"But I am a fool, I risk my life needlessly just to get revenge." Idrial murmured.

"You saved my life, you want to protect your kind, everyone risks their life as a warrior. You are one of the strongest and wisest people I know." Berethor replied.

"I just need to be alone right now." Idrial said while sighing, Berethor went back to the cave and Idrial just sat on a rock and stared into the distance, she could see her home and all she wanted was to see her brother.

Dawn rose and they set off towards the forest, Idrial led the way, relieved to be near her home again. As they went deeper into forest, Hadhod felt a sense of unease and was on edge, while Idrial was a sharp contrast, relaxed and blissful.

At dusk they were a good distance into the forest.

"We should meet a patrol soon, then we will be under their protection until we reach the city." Idrial stated, remembering all the patrol routes.

She was right, a few minutes later they met a large patrol, the leader of which was Orophin.

_"Welcome home, Lady Idrial, I trust you had a safe journey?" Orophin said politely._

_"Thank you Orophin, but how many times do I have to tell you not to use my title?" Idrial replied._

_"It does not matter, however your presence is required in Caras Galadhon, we brought a horse so you would arrive there faster." Orophin explained_.

"Hannon lle." Idrial replied.

"I must leave for the time being my friends, Orophin and his guard will protect you, I will see you again in Caras Galadhon." She said to her companions before riding towards the city.


	9. Beneath The Mallorn Trees

**Author's Note: So I hope everyone enjoyed the last chapter, hopefully you will enjoy this chapter as well, it was probably my favourite to write.**

**Disclaimer: I only own my OC's that are listed in Chapter 1.**

**Elvish will be in italics.**

**Journal entries will be in bold italics.**

**Chapter 9: Beneath The Mallorn Trees**

Berethor, Hadhod and Elegost entered one of the nearby guard talans with the patrol, where they would be resting for the night. Berethor and Hadhod sat in a corner, muttering away to each other, neither of them were comfortable amongst all the elves. Elegost however was confidently speaking with the elves, talking about archery quite happily with them.

In Caras Galadhon Idrial ran to Aranel's talan, if anything happened to him, then she would lose everything, the one person who had always been there for her.

When she arrived she saw Aranel in formal robes, preparing for a feast by the looks of things.

"Ria, you need to get ready for the feast in a few hours." He said sternly, she didn't bother arguing.

"Gandalf is dead." She said mutely, Aranel's eyes widened as he went and hugged her, she finally let herself cry over the loss.

"Ria, you need to be strong, we are in the midst of the war, there is no time for mourning." He replied.

"I could have saved him, my companions made me leave." Idrial muttered.

"Get ready for the feast, we will talk later." Aranel said quietly, Idrial nodded and wiped away her tears before leaving.

When she arrived back in her own talan a group of maids made sure that she was ready for the feast. By the time they were done she was wearing a pale silver dress and her hair was in an elegant braid, she crossed the room and picked up the old drawing of her parents that she kept hidden from others so it was safe.

"What am I becoming?" She asked quietly. She put the drawing away and headed to the royal talan.

She arrived and saw Aranel speaking with their grandparents.

"Orophin told me that my presence was required?" She questioned, Celeborn nodded.

"The Fellowship Of The Ring is departing tomorrow, we are holding a feast in their honour and since they carry the future of Middle Earth we deemed it appropriate to have you and Aranel present, since you are the future of our realm." Galadriel explained kindly, she and Celeborn entered the room where the feast was going to take place. Aranel and Idrial waited outside, Galadriel and Celeborn would introduce them.

"We wish all the best to you when you depart tomorrow, however now is the time for celebration, we would like to present to you the future of our realm, Lord Aranel and Lady Idrial." Celeborn announced with that Aranel and Idrial entered and took their places either side of Celeborn and Galadriel.

"On behalf of our people we commend your courage at volunteering for such a momentous task." Idrial said kindly.

"We are truly grateful, when your quest is over we would like to forge alliances with all of your kindred." Aranel continued, they sat quietly and began to eat. Legolas and Idrial shared fleeting glances when the others weren't watching, however Celeborn noticed them, but chose to hide his disapproval for the time being.

"Idrial, do you have any news of Gandalf? You passed through the mines of Moria recently did you not?" Celeborn asked.

"Yes, he fought valiantly but a Balrog of Morgoth claimed his life, he fell deep into the mines." Idrial said sadly.

"That is worrying news, Gandalf was the leader of our company." Aragorn muttered grimly.

"You are brave warriors, I am sure that you will still succeed in your quest." Aranel replied.

"What other news of the wilderness do you bring Idrial, we sent you to scout the Great East Road?" Galadriel questioned.

"Orcs, wargs and wildmen were roaming freely, they attacked a party of elves travelling to Rivendell. I did what I could to lower their numbers. The most disturbing was that I encountered three of the Nazgul near the road." Idrial explained, Frodo shuddered at the mention of the Nazgul but the other Hobbits stared in awe at her, the Nazgul were dangerous, it would have been worse if she was outnumbered.

"The Nazgul should not have been there, they should have returned to their master after the Bruinen flooded." Aragorn said worriedly.

"They would have returned to their master after I encountered them, they were swept away by the water." Idrial reassured him.

"Are all elves warriors?" Frodo asked curiously, Idrial smiled.

"We are all taught to use a bow and a blade when we are young, I have taught elflings before. Most women choose to become healers though, everyone is given a choice after they have been taught basic skills." Aranel explained.

"We were not trained with the elves, we were taught by Aragorn's people originally, we returned to the elves within the last century to learn their combat style." Idrial added. The meal ended shortly after.

Idrial did not go to rest like most of those who had attended the meal, instead she went to her father's forge. She looked around, seeing the familiar tapestry on the wall, it was her father's family tree, she had always been more like her father, they were not of noble blood and she knew they had little riches, and that her father and uncle worked extremely hard. It was obvious that she was of their blood. She traced a finger along the lines that connected her ancestors to her father, the line that represented her parents marriage. There was one line from her parents to Thalion, her eldest brother, her and Aranel's names had yet to be added. She and Aranel had meant to clear up the forge, over the years when it had been abandoned it had collected dust and weapons had been left scattered around. She found an old sword under a pile of parchment. She lifted it up and practiced some basic attacks with it, she spun round and there was a clash of metal.

"Are you trying to kill me?" Legolas asked.

"I have no idea what you are talking about." Idrial said innocently, putting the blade on a bench.

"Every time you have a sword and I am nearby, you almost take my head off." Legolas stated.

"Clearly you are always in the wrong place at the wrong time." Idrial joked.

"I've missed your humour mellon-nin." Legolas said sarcastically, Idrial rolled her eyes and punched him.

"I see you are as kind as ever." He teased, Idrial rolled her eyes again and sighed.

"If you are just here to make me angry then just go." She replied.

"Are you alright, you're never this snappy?" Legolas asked, Idrial sighed and sat on a table.

"I could have saved Gandalf, but he wouldn't let me, my companions had to drag me out of Moria." She muttered.

"Companions?" Legolas questioned.

"A man of Gondor, a dwarf and Elegost, they should arrive tomorrow, I was told I was needed." She explained, Legolas sat beside her and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Gandalf was too selfless for his own good, he wouldn't risk someone else to save his own life, there was nothing you could have done, he was a stubborn old wizard." Legolas said kindly, Idrial chuckled.

"Why do you always know how to cheer me up?" She asked, smiling.

"Because I am such a good friend." He replied, Idrial laughed, this time it was Legolas' turn to punch her.

"You should never punch an elleth." She said seriously.

"Because you are obviously so weak." Legolas joked, Idrial stopped laughing.

"You should get some rest, you have to leave tomorrow." She muttered.

"I have had plenty of rest while we have stayed here, I would rather spend time with you, in case I do not survive this quest." He replied quietly.

"If you are as great a warrior as you say you are then you will survive." Idrial said kindly, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"You have become wise since I last saw you." Legolas stated.

"I've had to be, having wisdom and courage is the only way to survive." Idrial muttered.

"You've always had courage." Legolas replied.

"You need to find yours again." Idrial whispered, she unclipped the brooch she was wearing and gave it to him.

"I've had this since I lived with the Dunedain, it was a gift when I turned 11, I have worn it everyday since, it has brought me luck and helped me stay strong." She said kindly, Legolas accepted it.

"I will keep it safe and return it to you when this is all over." He replied. He then leaned towards her and kissed her, she returned it at first but then broke it.

"This cannot be, we cannot." She muttered.

"Rial..." Legolas began.

"No, we cannot, it would only bring us pain." Idrial interrupted, she ran off into the forest she couldn't face him.

"Idrial where are you going?" Celeborn asked.

"I just wanted to walk through the forest again." She answered.

"I hope you are aware that the Mirkwood Prince cares deeply for you." Celeborn stated.

"I know grandfather." Idrial replied.

"Your duty to your people must come first, when your grandmother leaves you will rule this realm." Celeborn said sternly.

"I know my duty grandfather, I already told him not to waste his time pursuing me." Idrial replied.

"Good, hopefully he will have listened to you." Celeborn muttered before leaving, Idrial sighed once he was out of earshot.

The Fellowship left at dawn, they had each been given a unique gift and all of them were given elvish cloaks, Berethor, Elegost and Hadhod arrived a few hours later.

"We offer you respite in these dark times, you may stay for as long as you need." Galadriel said kindly, Hadhod grunted however Berethor and Elegost thanked her, they went to the tree they were given and rested in the den carved into it. Idrial briefly visited them on the way to her grandparents talan.

"You wanted to see me, grandmother?" She questioned.

"Yes, we found this a while ago but wanted to wait until the time was right before giving it to you. It belonged to your mother." Galadriel explained, handing Idrial a packet, she opened it to reveal a leather bound book, worn with age.

"There is another gift for you in your talan, you will understand its significance once you have read read the book." Galadriel said kindly, Idrial nodded her thanks and went to sit by the river, it was her favourite place to sit and watch the days go by.

Berethor, Elegost and Hadhod woke several hours later, it was already nightfall when they were awoken with food and wine.

"I could get used to this." Berethor joked.

"The elves of Lorien and Rivendell always treat their guests well." Elegost replied, Hadhod drank some wine and then spat it out.

"Where's the ale!" He yelled, Berethor and Elegost fell about laughing.

"What is this foul drink!" Hadhod complained.

"It is wine." Elegost said through his laughter.

"It is alcohol, usually drunk by the rich, or at least that is typical of Gondor." Berethor explained.

"All elves drink wine, they do not drink ale." Elegost added.

"I will have to drink nothing but water while we are here, just like you Elegost." Hadhod complained.

"That is because nothing good ever comes from being drunk." Elegost retorted, the men started laughing hysterically again, the elves that passed by gave them puzzled looks as to what was so amusing.

_**I was in another political meeting today with visiting dignitaries from Mirkwood, King Oropher is insisting that I marry his son,Thranduil, but I do not trust that family, they lock themselves and their kingdom away from the world, away from the sun, moon and stars. My parents have already told Oropher that when I marry it will be for love, not political benefit.**_

Idrial yawned and skipped over the next few pages, it was definitely her mother's, even now the delicate handwriting was easily recognisable.

_**My parents are worried about the threat of Sauron, they have commissioned the best blacksmith in Lorien to forge a blade for me, I went to collect the blade today. It is a beautiful weapon but what amazed me most was the blacksmith, who was in fact younger than me, I spent several hours in the forge speaking to him. He is not of nobility which explains why I had never met him. He is also a fine warrior as I discovered. He even offered to make armour from steel for me, I accepted his offer and gave him five hundred silver coins. He said his name was Aradur, I hope I get to see him again.**_

Idrial no longer felt tired, she had always wondered how her parents had met, she knew her father forged armour for her mother but it was lost years ago. She ran back to her talan when she saw it. Beautiful steel armour placed neatly on her bed, she flipped through the book and saw a drawing of the armour that her father had forged, it was exactly the same as what was in front of her now.

_**Aradur and I have become great friends, he is a very kind person, he is escorting me to the festival tomorrow, I wish he would ask me to court him, for he is also incredibly brave. My mind is filled with thoughts of him.**_

Idrial smiled, it was nice to read her mothers journal, it was a connection to her, she would finally know her mother.

**A/N: So I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter, the next one will probably have a bit more happen in Lorien and them leaving, which means we are getting close to Helm's Deep which I am very excited to write!**

**Please Review.**


	10. Falling Leaves

**Author's Note: I am proud to say that this story is now past 10,000 words and we are now at 10 chapters! Thank you to all my followers, reviewers and people who favorited!**

**Disclaimer: I only own my OC's that are listed in chapter 1.**

**Elvish will be in italics.**

**Journal entries will be in bold italics.**

**Chapter 10: Falling Leaves**

_**Today is truly the greatest day of my life, I gave birth to twins, a daughter called Idrial and a son named Aranel. Aradur was so excited, since the days of his ancestors there has never been a daughter born into his family, a great destiny lies upon them though, I fear for them. I had hoped my children would grow up without a war however Thalion was a guard during the last alliance, Sauron was not destroyed forever and I fear that Aranel and Idrial will have to fight if he returns. **_

A faint smile appeared on Idrial's face, she had stayed awake all night reading, this was the last entry, it seemed as though her mother neglected it. She closed the book and was about to put it on a shelf when two envelopes fell out, in her mothers delicate handwriting one envelope had Aranel's name on it, the other had Idrial's name written clearly on it. She hesitated, but decided to open hers.

_**My dearest daughter,**_

_**If you are reading this then my worst fears have come to pass. Sauron has returned and waging war across the land, I wrote this just before we left to go to Rivendell. Your father and I knew that orcs would hunt you and Aranel. If you wish to know why then I have written it here. When you were born your grandmother worried for you, there was a great prophecy that one day twins would destroy the shadow, and bring peace upon the land. The prophecy seemed to be about you two, and if you are reading this it means that you will fight in the war soon. The only advice I can give you is to follow your heart and trust your instincts, they will never lead you astray. **_

Idrial held back her tears and held the letter to her chest.

"I will not let you down." She whispered, she placed the letter with the drawing of her parents. Aranel walked in and gave her a questioning look, she walked over and placed the envelope with his name on in his hand.

"It is from our parents." She muttered before going to see her companions.

The men were still asleep, Idrial laughed as she approached them, waking up Elegost.

"Well mellon-nin, you should have had plenty of rest by now." She stated, sitting with them.

"You want to leave in the morning." Elegost replied, Idrial rolled her eyes at him.

"Why are you so observant?" She questioned.

"I have spent plenty of time with elves, it is no surprise that I picked up a few habits." Elegost answered, Idrial smiled.

As the sun rose Idrial prepared to leave, she attached all her weapons to her new armour and then met with Berethor, Elegost and Hadhod. Celeborn and Galadriel stood by the river waiting for them.

"May Elbereth watch over you and keep you safe." Galadriel said kindly.

"We give you these boats so you may reach the gullies faster, may the stars shine upon your path." Celeborn continued, Berethor, Idrial, Elegost and Hadhod bowed in respect before climbing into the boats. Elegost and Hadhod shared a boat while Berethor and Idrial shared the other one. They sailed down the river and arrived in the gullies an hour later. They climbed out of the boat and Elegost immediately noticed tracks on the ground.

"A company of Uruk-Hai passed this way. They had prisoners." He muttered.

"What of the party from Rivendell?" Berethor asked.

"It's difficult to tell." Elegost said grimly.

"Over here!" Idrial called, noticing more tracks.

"A dwarf, a man and an elf were following the Uruk-Hai, they travelled towards Rohan." She explained.

"Then we follow them, I have to find Boromir." Berethor said urgently.

"We just have the small matter of navigating this maze of rock." Hadhod grumbled.

"I know this land well, we will be fine." Idrial replied, they set off with Idrial leading the way.

They were near an abandoned outpost when a warg charged at them, Elegost quickly shot it and the others decided to keep their weapons ready.

"Be on your guard." Berethor said sternly.

"Usually the gullies are empty, it is difficult for anything to survive here." Idrial muttered, slightly confused. They climbed up onto a rock outcrop and decided to rest there for the night, Elegost and Idrial kept watch, both of them had their bows ready if any foes appeared.

"_Idrial are you alright?" _Elegost asked, concern evident in his tone.

_"I am fine." _She answered quickly

**A/N: So I hope you enjoyed this chapter, next update should be Monday.**

**Please Review.**


	11. Friends And Foes

**Author's Note: Sorry the last chapter was kinda short, I'll try to make up for it in this one.**

**Disclaimer: I only own my OC's that are listed in Chapter 1**

**Elvish will be in italics.**

**Thoughts/Flashbacks will be in bold italics.**

**Chapter 11: Friends and Foes**

"A red sun rises." Idrial muttered.

"What does that mean?" Berethor asked.

"It is an old elven teaching. If a red sun rises in the morning it means that blood has been spilled during the night." Idrial explained.

"Let us hope it was orc blood." Berethor replied.

"We cannot afford to stop now, or the tracks will vanish." Elegost said urgently, walking towards them, the tracks were difficult to follow anyway, they couldn't risk another setback. Idrial walked ahead, searching for the trail.

"Very well then." Berethor replied, putting out the fire. Idrial brushed her hand along the ground.

"More tracks, heading towards Rohan." She called back to Elegost, he ran up to where she stood.

"They are some form of orc track I do not recognise." Elegost muttered.

They set off, running as quickly as their feet would carry them. Idrial led the way with Elegost close behind, Berethor was slightly further back and Hadhod was even further behind. They slipped through a small gap between two cliffs and found open plains before them.

"Rohan." Elegost muttered, Idrial crouched down.

"Hoof prints, the riders of Rohan must be nearby." She said, scanning the ground.

"I suggest we stop tonight, unless you want Hadhod to collapse from exhaustion." Berethor replied.

"_I can smell smoke." _Idrial stated, scanning the distance, Elegost gave her a worried look. They waited for Hadhod to catch up before continuing, Idrial felt a sense of unease, and pulled the hood of her cloak up over her helmet, Elegost did the same, there was something strange in these lands. They ran to where Idrial thought the smoke was coming from.

"There is blood on the ground." Elegost stated, Idrial raised her hand. A clash of metal could be heard in the distance.

"This way!" She yelled, running towards the noise.

When they arrived they saw a rohirrim woman fighting off three orcs, they ran towards her and quickly cut down the orcs.

"It was brave of you to fight alone." Elegost stated.

"I fight them to stop them chasing the refugees that are headed for Helm's Deep." The woman replied, removing one of her dual-axes from a dead orc.

"What drove them there? I have fought there before, there is no escape." Idrial questioned, remembering the last battle there which was a narrow victory.

"The King ordered Edoras to be emptied, the people of Rohan travel there to defend themselves from Saruman's armies." The woman explained.

"We should travel there, they will need every sword." Berethor stated, the others nodded.

"I will join you, there are horses nearby we can take." The woman replied.

"Very well, I am Berethor of Gondor, my companions are Elegost of the Dunedain, Idrial of Lothlorien and Hadhod of Erebor." Berethor explained.

"I am Morwen." The woman answered, Elegost and Idrial removed their hoods, suddenly feeling safer. They made their way over to where several horses stood in a pasture, they mounted and rode towards Helm's Deep.

Hadhod had to share a horse with Elegost, Idrial led the way, searching the surroundings for any threat. Berethor rode with Morwen as she explained what had befallen Rohan. They entered a small gap between two cliffs.

"Be on your guard, there is fresh blood on the ground." Idrial warned, once again pulling up her hood, she kept a hand on the hilt of her sword, Berethor did the same and Elegost kept his bow in hand.

"There is a rider ahead of us." Idrial called, they rode quickly towards the rider.

"What business do you have in the riddermark?" The rider questioned.

"We come to aid your people at Helm's Deep." Berethor answered.

"Very well then. I will ride with you, otherwise you will be left to die." The rider replied.

"We're just going to trust some rider?" Hadhod questioned.

"I am Eaoden, a rider of the royal guard, you would do well to trust me, dwarf." The rider snapped.

"How many soldiers does your king have?" Idrial asked.

"Only a few hundred." Eaoden answered.

"Helm's Deep maybe strong but an army of only a few hundred will not long survive." Idrial muttered grimly.

"You speak as though you know it well?" Eaoden questioned.

"I have fought there many times in the past." Idrial answered.

"The last battle there was hundreds of years ago, how is that possible?" Eaoden asked, Idrial removed her hood.

"I am an elf, I have lived for over 2000 years, and have spent most of that time fighting." She explained.

"I have always wanted to see an elf fight, I have heard many tales of their skill in battle." Eaoden stated.

"Most of my kindred choose not to fight unless they are attacked. The time of the elves is over, most of my kin have left these shores. I long for the days when my kin will become strong again, when we will stand alongside men in battle." Idrial said quietly.

"We should hurry, we need to get there before nightfall." Berethor interrupted, they kicked their horses into a gallop.

"Open the gate!" One of the guards yelled, they rode inside and dismounted, as soon as they did Berethor, Idrial, Elegost and Hadhod had their hands bound.

"You are to be put on trial by the King, he will decide if you are trustworthy or spies of Saruman." Gamling explained, Idrial kicked the guard behind her.

"We are no spies, we offer you our aid." She said while trying to fight off the guards.

"We travel with some of your kin." Elegost added.

"We cannot risk traitors killing us before battle." Gamling replied.

"I have fought here for Rohan before." Idrial insisted, trying to break the rope binding her wrists.

"Tell that to the King, he will decide your fates." Gamling said harshly.

They were taken to the hall where Theoden, Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli were planning for the battle. The guards threw them to the ground and removed the hoods covering Elegost and Idrial's faces.

"Who are these people?" Theoden questioned.

"They arrived with a villager and Eaoden, they claim to offer their aid." Gamling answered, Theoden walked over to them.

"A ranger, a Gondorian, an elf maiden and a dwarf. Rather an odd company." Theoden stated.

"We rode here to aid you in the approaching battle, I have fought here many a time before for your people." Idrial replied.

"You could be spies, telling me a tale I might just believe so I will let you stay." Theoden said calmly.

"Let 'em fight. The dwarf is one of my kinsman, Hadhod. He is a great warrior, definitely no spy." Gimli replied.

"And this is no simple elf maiden, she is Idrial, a commander of Lothlorien, she hates the orcs, she is no spy either." Legolas continued.

"The ranger is Elegost, one of my most trusted captains. These are allies, not spies." Aragorn finished for them.

"Release them." Theoden ordered. Aragorn and Legolas walked over to them and Gimli rushed over to Hadhod.

"I am glad to see you mellyn-nin." Aragorn said kindly.

"We are just relieved to have made it here, how can we aid you?" Berethor asked.

"The Deeping Wall is where the defenses are weakest, you and your companions will serve best there." Aragorn explained.

"I will find Eaoden and Morwen and inform them." Berethor replied, taking his leave.

"Now then Elegost, about your disappearance..." Aragorn began.

**A/N: So I hope you enjoyed this chapter and hope you all read the next one, it will be really good.**

**Please Review.**


	12. Calm Before The Storm

**Author's Note: Sorry that it took a while to update last time, but now we are at Helm's Deep so the real action begins now.**

**Disclaimer: I only own my OC's that are listed in chapter 1.**

**Elvish will be in italics.**

**Thoughts/Mental Communication will be in bold italics.**

**Chapter 12: Calm Before The Storm**

"I am sorry I failed you, my chieftain. I could not face the other rangers after the attack." Elegost said, ashamed of himself.

"We needed every ranger after that incident and you abandoned your people. I may be your friend but I cannot take desertion lightly." Aragorn replied sternly, Idrial gave Elegost a sympathetic look.

"Not only did you abandon your people but your family as well?" Aragorn questioned.

"I would not risk their safety, I would not return to them until there was no threat." Elegost answered.

"So you left your wife grieving in Rivendell and your son who barely has any recollection of his father." Aragorn pointed out.

"You promised that when you married Elerrina you would never hurt her. You broke that promise, not only did she give up her home for you, but her immortality as well." Idrial snapped, Elegost may be her friend but she had been friends with Elerrina longer. When she finally befriended an elf other than Aranel she hoped that they wouldn't eventually die like all the rangers she had known. Elegost shook his head, how could Idrial of all people lecture him about this,she didn't know what it was like to be afraid of losing the people you love, she had her grandparents and Aranel but this was different. "You don't understand! Neither of you do!" Elegost yelled, marching out of the room, a few of the soldiers looked over, wondering what had caused the sudden outburst.

Gimli and Hadhod went to find food and ale, even before battle it seemed to be what they cared about most.

"10,000 Uruk-Hai are marching towards us even as we speak, they will be here by nightfall." Aragorn warned as he walked through the keep with Berethor and Idrial, the only two of the company whose only concern seemed to be the battle.

"We will be ready." Berethor confirmed, going to warn the others who had made their way towards the armoury.

"We will follow you to the end, gwador-nin." Idrial said kindly, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Hanon-lle." Aragorn replied, a worried look on his face. Idrial immediately sensed what was troubling him.

"I know you fear that the defenses will not hold." She stated, he stared at the rock beneath his feet.

"You have fought here before, you know the fortress. Do you think they will hold?" Aragorn asked, Idrial dropped her gaze.

"This is no great army, there are too few trained soldiers. But we will survive, this fortress has never fallen while men defended it. It will not fall while I still draw breath." Idrial replied, a faint smile appeared on Aragorn's face.

"I am happy to die beside you gwaleth-nin."

"As am I, gwador nin." Idrial left to walk along the Deeping Wall.

Elegost sat in a corner of the armoury, smoking his pipe whilst deep in thought. Everyone seemed quiet, they all believed that they were going to die. Elegost found a piece of parchment and scribbled down a note. He knew that nobody would read it, but it was his only chance to apologise. He wished he had the chance to fix all his mistakes.

Gimli and Hadhod were doing well at drinking as much ale as they could before the battle.

"You two ought to stop drinking, you don't want to be drunk in battle." Morwen said sternly as she and Eaoden sat beside the dwarves.

"Let them be, these will likely be our last hours anyway." Eaoden muttered, Morwen rose from her seat.

"You may think that but I will not believe it! I will not fall into grief before we have even fought!" Morwen snapped, storming out of the room, was she the only one who had hope?

Idrial walked along the Deeping Wall, she saw Legolas staring into the distance, most likely looking for the enemy. She decided to walk towards him and stood next to him.

"Thank you, for what you said earlier." She muttered, breaking the silence.

"If I didn't Theoden would have killed you, thinking that you were spy." Legolas replied, not bothering to look at her. Idrial dropped her gaze to the ground as she shuffled her feet.

"I'm sorry about what happened in Lorien, I..." Her voice trailed off. _**'All my years in battle and now I have no courage.'**_ She thought to herself.

"It is in the past now, let us just forget about it." Legolas interrupted before she had the chance to speak.

"Do you believe that there is any hope?" Legolas asked quietly, turning his head to face her. She lifted her gaze from the ground and looked into his eyes.

"There is always hope. Otherwise there is nothing left to fight for." She whispered, trying to ignore the fact that there was very little distance between them.

"Even if there was no hope I still fight for the people I care about; my father, my sister, Aragorn, ...you." Legolas said quietly, Idrial returned to staring at her feet.

"I wish I couldn't care about people." Idrial muttered, Legolas raised an eyebrow at her. She lifted her gaze and turned her head to face him.

"To care about someone is to be afraid of losing them and I don't want to have to grieve." She explained.

"Is that why you didn't want to be my friend all those years ago?" Legolas questioned, Idrial nodded.

"I wanted to be able to not care about people." She answered.

"And now, when we must fight the army of Isengard, do you still feel that way?" Legolas asked, Idrial shook her head.

"I realise now that no matter what, caring about people, friendship, love, it can't be avoided." She said quietly, as she looked up at him, there wasn't much of a height difference between them but Idrial was still a few inches shorter. She leaned in and kissed him, he was stunned at first, but it didn't take him long to return it. When they broke apart Idrial kept her eyes closed as she rested her forehead against his. Their hands were loosely entwined and to them nothing felt more perfect. Idrial opened her eyes and as she looked at him she saw the hurt that she caused in Lorien. She backed away from him and left him there. He was bewildered by her actions but chose not to think about it, now wasn't the time. He ignored the comments that some of the rohirrim were making.

Berethor had been unfortunate enough to find Morwen as she seemingly aimlessly stormed through Helm's Deep.

"Um... Morwen?" He said hesitantly.

"What!" She snapped.

"I came to talk to you about the battle but obviously now is not a good time." Berethor muttered, slowly backing away.

"No, I'm sorry." Morwen replied, grabbing his arm.

"Eaoden was being very pessimistic, it annoyed me as you could probably tell." She explained, Berethor nodded.

"He has most likely seen a lot of war. Aragorn has warned of a force ten thousand strong, I hope you are ready." He said, trying to act calm.

"A few refugees who arrived a while ago, they had two bodies that they found in a cart, they were my parents. I am more than ready to kill the scum that have destroyed my family." Morwen replied, a fire blazing in her eyes, Berethor was slightly taken aback by just how determined she was.

_**"Is that a common trait in women that I never noticed? Morwen seems determined and more than happy to fight, and Idrial seems like she wants to kill every servant of Sauron.**_" He thought to himself, quite confused.

Aragorn was walking through the keep after visiting the stables, just going where his feet took him. They had a few hours before battle and as many preparations as could be made were organised, there was very little left to do.

He walked past a door and heard a voice, his highly sensitive Dunedain hearing allowing him to listen in.

"He probably hates me now! Why am I so foolish?" The voice said anxiously, Aragorn recognised it as Idrial's voice and decided to find out what was bothering her.

He walked into the room and saw Idrial frantically pacing the room, muttering away to herself.

_"What is troubling you gwaleth-nin? I have never seen you like this." Aragorn questioned._

_"I do not know what is wrong with me!" She said desperately, still pacing the room._

_"You will have to be more specific." He teased, hoping humor would help._

_"Not funny. And I just keep making mistakes!" She replied, clearly becoming angry._

_"Again, more specific please." Aragorn stated._

_"It's a long and complicated story." She muttered._

_"Well then you'd best keep it simple." Aragorn replied, sitting on the floor, Idrial sat down as well, hoping it would help._

_"It all started in Rivendell. The night before the fellowship left, Legolas kissed me. When we spoke in Lorien we kissed again, I wasn't sure what to do because I knew how I felt about him but thought that my duty was more important, so I told him we couldn't be together. Then we were speaking for a while here and I kissed him, but then I realised how I probably hurt him in Lorien and that he wouldn't be able to forgive me." She explained._

_"That's why he didn't seem himself for a while." Aragorn muttered._

_"You'll still remain friends no matter what happens, I know that both of you care too much about your friendship to lose it." _Aragorn said kindly, Idrial shrugged.

"I'll forget about it for a while, I don't need to worry about it now." She replied, standing up and leaving. Aragorn just laughed to himself, leave it to them to make something that would normally be so simple, more difficult than fighting a balrog.

Dusk was beginning to fall as everyone who would be fighting in the battle made their way to the armoury. Most of those who had been chosen to fight were receiving weapons, not that many of them actually knew how to use them. Berethor, Elegost, Eaoden, Hadhod, Idrial and Morwen stood together, checking their weapons.

"Elegost, Eaoden and Idrial, you will be stood in the first row on the wall, since you can shoot. Hadhod, Morwen and I will be stood near the back, ready to support in the keep or on the wall." Berethor explained, sheathing a dagger.

**A/N: This chapter was just all the stuff before the battle, the next chapter will include the actual battle.**

**Please Review.**


	13. Courage

**Author's Note: I'm back! I've sorted everything out and have found a way to deal with the increased workload at school (A.K.A, if I can't get it done at home do it in the library at break or lunch.) So this chapter will probably be just to do with the battle **

**Disclaimer: I only own my OC's, listed in Chapter 1.**

**Elvish will be in italics.**

**Mental communication will be in bold italics.**

**Chapter 13: Courage**

Most of the army was preparing in the armory, Morwen had managed to sharpen her axes and found a spare helmet to wear, not that she minded, if she wore armour it would only slow her down. Elegost had stocked up on arrows, Hadhod just sat with Eaoden and Berethor, trying to calm their nerves in the few minutes they had. Idrial walked inside and glared at Elegost then went and sat with the others. Elegost ignored her and went to stand in the corner.

"Farmers, Merchants and Stable boys, these are no soldiers." Aragorn muttered, glancing around the room.

"Most have seen too many winters." Gimli sighed from where he was sitting.

"Or too few. Look at them, they're frightened." Legolas cut in.

_"And so they should be, three hundred against ten thousand." _He continued, a grim tone to his voice.

"_They have more hope of defending themselves here than they did at Edoras."_ Aragorn pointed out, not wanting the small amount of hope he had to be taken away from him.

"_Aragorn, they cannot win this fight, they are all going to die!" _Legolas argued.

"Then I shall die as one of them!" Aragorn yelled. Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at him, he walked out of the room. Legolas made to go after him but Gimli stopped him.

"Let him go laddie, let him blow off some steam." He said calmly.

"The rest of us have hope, why don't you?" Idrial questioned, her voice was soft but anger was evident in her eyes as she walked away.

Suddenly a loud horn was sounded and everyone rushed to the gates, many of the rohirrim stared in awe as a large legion of elves marched through the gates, led by Haldir, Elladan and Elrohir. Theoden stared with shock while Aragorn, Legolas, Elegost and Idrial just grinned.

"There was once an alliance between men and elves, they fought and died together. We come to honour that allegiance, we are proud to fight alongside men once more." Haldir announced, Theoden smiled.

"Mae govannen Haldir." Aragorn said kindly. Idrial grimaced as Elladan, Elrohir and Aranel ran over and hugged her.

"Stop, I need to breathe." She said, coughing.

"Well we just missed our little cousin so much." Elrohir teased, Idrial glared at him.

"I'm not the little one, you forget that I am older than Aranel." She argued.

"By one minute." Aranel replied.

"You'd do well not to make her angry Ro, or she'll beat you at sparring again." Elladan warned, Idrial rolled her eyes at him.

"You're being nice, what's wrong?" She questioned.

"Nothing is wrong, cousin dearest. Sun was shining, birds were chirping, I simply want your side of the story on the rumours that are spreading around Lorien and Rivendell." Elladan answered, Idrial glared at him.

"What rumours?" She asked, with the look on her face that would scare a troll.

"The rumours that Legolas has swept you off your feet and that you have run away with him." Elladan stated.

"Who started these rumours?" She questioned.

"Your dear cousin Elrohir after he saw the two of you before the fellowship left." Elladan replied.

"_Well then, you can tell him that if he survives the battle I'll kill him myself!" _ Idrial snapped, marching away from her cousins. She stood in front of the elven army next to Aragorn.

_"This is Aragorn, the son of Arathorn and my brother in arms, he will give you your orders in this battle." _Idrial announced, as she looked at the warriors she noticed Erulisse among them and frowned. She thought that her grandparents knew how much they hated each other, Erulisse was still mad that Idrial had been chosen as a commander of the guard, especially when she had only been in Lorien for 10 years at the time and she had spent most of that travelling between the rangers, Rivendell and Lorien. Then there was the fact that Idrial was the youngest elf, other than Aranel, who fought for them. Idrial scowled, Erulisse had charmed Aranel into believing that she was innocent, however Idrial was not so easily fooled, she knew that Erulisse would only cause trouble.

Theoden spoke with Haldir about where the elves would be positioned, Aranel, Elladan and Elrohir would each have part of the legion to captain during the battle, Haldir, Idrial and Aragorn would be able to give orders to Aranel, Elladan and Elrohir.

As soon as darkness fell everyone was in their positions for battle. The elves lined the wall and some stood behind it, ready to fire at the Uruks. Saruman's army drew closer, and lined up roughly 10 metres from the wall. A single Uruk stood on a large rock and the army began making foul chants as the skies opened up and it began to pour with rain.

"What's happening out there?!" Gimli asked as he jumped up and down, unable to see over the wall.

"Would you like me to describe it to you, or shall I find you a box to stand on?" Legolas joked, Gimli laughed sarcastically.

"_Children of Eru, show them no mercy, for you shall receive none!"_ Aragorn yelled, the entire army had bows ready and waited for the order to fire. Idrial adjusted her aim slightly towards the Uruk that seemed to be inspiring the army of Uruk-Hai, Berethor noticed from where he stood next to her.

"I haven't used a bow in years, any last advice?" He asked, struggling to remember the technique.

"Relax, look straight at your target, they seem heavily armoured, so shooting their necks is probably the best way to kill them, shoot their legs and they will be crippled." She stated, not even glancing at him as she focused on her target.

Suddenly an arrow was released by one of the rohirrim.

"_Hold!"_ Aragorn shouted, an Uruk fell over dead and the enemy charged forwards.

"_Release the arrows!"_ He ordered, a sea of arrows reached the enemy, wave after wave hitting their mark and killing the Uruks. Idrial killed the Uruk that seemed to be the leader and went on shooting the other foes.

The Uruk Hai that managed to reach the wall began raising ladders and climbing up, Gimli and Hadhod grinned at finally getting the chance to kill something.

"Gimli, I'm on seventeen already!" Legolas shouted from further down the wall.

"I'll have no pointy ear outscoring me!" Gimli declared, hacking away at the Uruks, Idrial just grinned.

"And what about a pointy eared woman?" She called to him.

"I don't mind you beating me, only him, he is a pointy eared elvish princeling after all." Gimli said loudly, so Legolas would hear. Idrial smiled and saw several Uruks approaching her, she drew her long knife along with her sword and cut through them, spinning round in a whirlwind of blades.

Morwen stood on the edge of the wall, kicking the ladders away and killing the Uruks that were climbing up. Eaoden worried for her safety, one wrong move and she would fall, most likely to her death. He stayed close to her,stabbing at the Uruks with his spear, but ready to help her.

Hadhod protected Elegost who was shooting at the Uruks on the ground, Elegost knew he could trust the dwarf and shot at the Uruks that were climbing the ladders while Hadhod was on a killing frenzy, destroying any Uruk that came near him. Berethor wasn't too far away from them, hacking at his foes with his sword.

More Uruks swarmed up the ladders, for each one that was killed two more took its place. Small groups of Uruks were placing devices in the drain, when an Uruk with a torch starting running towards it, Aragorn quickly worked out what was happening.

"Legolas, shoot him, bring him down!" Aragorn shouted, Legolas fired an arrow and it buried itself in the Uruk's shoulder, but it kept running. He fired again, the arrow once again hitting its mark but the Uruk kept running and then dived into the drain.

**A/N: I'm going to leave it there, to keep you all excited for the next chapter.**

**Please review, let me know what you think.**


	14. A War On Two Fronts

**Author's Note: So I'm hoping you will all like this chapter, so without further ado (other than disclaimers and e.t.c that we all hate)**

**Disclaimer: I only own my OCs that are listed in chapter 1**

**Elvish will be in italics.**

**Mental communication/Thoughts will be in bold italics.**

**Chapter 14: A War On Two Fronts**

The wall exploded and debris flew in all directions, crushing both Uruk Hai as well as the Elves and , Berethor, Hadhod, Eaoden and Morwen were unfortunate enough to be in the middle of the wall where it had exploded and were slammed into the ground. Time seemed to stand still as realisation dawned on both armies.

Then the fight continued, Uruk-Hai stormed through the gap in the wall as those who still stood on the wall were assaulted by the Uruks on the ladders. Aragorn lifted his head to see the Uruks storming through what formerly was the drain. Gimli jumped from the wall and landed on two of the Uruk Hai while attacking the others.

Aragorn stood up and charged towards the Uruks, the elves following him. From the Deeping Wall Legolas saw what was happening and slid down the steps on a shield, firing arrows as he went until he jumped off and the shield landed in an Uruk's throat. Elegost and Idrial stayed on the Deeping Wall with Haldir, Elladan, Elrohir and Aranel, preventing the Uruks from reaching the keep.

"Aragorn, fall back! Get your men out of there!" Theoden yelled, Aragorn nodded.

"Nan barad, nan barad!" Aragorn shouted, the elves began to run back towards the keep. Those who hadn't been thrown from the wall covered them as they entered the keep.

"Haldir, nan barad!" Aragorn ordered as he and an elf dragged Gimli inside, Haldir nodded, as he told his troops to fall back he didn't see the Uruk sneaking up on him. He turned around too late as the Uruk drove its sword into his stomach, another was about to attack him when Aranel shot it. Elladan, Elrohir and Orophin rushed towards him and carried him back to the Keep as Idrial and Aranel covered them.

"It's just like old times." Aranel called.

"Two of us and hundreds of orcs, how I missed it." Idrial replied, a grin on her face as they cut down the Uruks. Before turning back to the Keep, an Uruk made to attack Idrial while her back was turned, she chose the right time to duck as Aranel shot it.

"That was a close one." She commented as they ran back into the Keep.

"You have no idea." Aranel muttered, she had not yet noticed that the Uruk may have missed her head but had cut off a substantial amount of her hair in the process.

Once they were inside they saw Haldir laying on a table being held down by his brother and the twins. Idrial found a healer in the hall, and beckoned for her to come over.

"Keep him alive until after the battle, my brother and I will be able to give him elvish medicine then." She said sternly, the healer nodded and set to making temporary stitches in the wound to prevent him from bleeding out.

"Aragorn!" Theoden called from where he stood by the gates, Aragorn approached him with Gimli and Idrial at his side.

"We need a distraction so we can reinforce the gate." He stated.

"How long do you need?" Aragorn asked.

"As long as you can give me." Theoden answered, Aragorn nodded and he, Gimli and Idrial made their way towards the causeway through the side door. They stood against the wall and Aragorn looked at the gap.

"Let me at them!" Gimli whispered.

"It's a long way." Aragorn muttered.

"Toss me." Gimli said quickly, Aragorn sent him a questioning look.

"I cannot jump the distance you'll have to toss me." He explained.

"Don't tell the elf." Gimli warned.

"Not a word." Aragorn said kindly, Aragorn threw him onto the causeway, then Idrial jumped across followed by Aragorn.

The Uruks were pushed back away from the door, the three of them seeming to enjoy cutting them down. Behind the gates the Rohirrim rushed to reinforce it, not that Aragorn was particularly in a rush as they managed to push the Uruk army back down the causeway so they were further away from the gates.

"Aragorn, we're finished get out of there!" Theoden shouted, Aragorn looked for a way to escape and then saw a rope hanging from the wall, he picked up Gimli and grabbed onto the rope. Legolas was on the wall pulling them up, Idrial killed a couple more Uruks before jumping and holding onto the rope. She held on with one hand and with the other she threw knives at the Uruks. Aragorn and Gimli reached the top of the wall and stepped onto it before heading back to Theoden, a few seconds later Idrial reached the top and Legolas helped her back onto the wall. For a few seconds they were frozen in each others eyes.

"You alright?" Legolas asked, Idrial just nodded, too breathless to speak.

"Look out!" He warned, pulling Idrial away from the edge as a grappling hook flew towards them.

"Hanon lle." Idrial muttered, quickly kissing his cheek before grabbing her bow and firing back at the Uruks. Legolas shot the rope attached to the grappling hook before shooting at the Uruks on the causeway.

Aragorn, Gimli, Berethor and Hadhod stood by the main gate, ready to attack when the Uruks broke through, Morwen, Eaoden and Elegost were stood behind the gate that led to the Deeping Wall, reinforcing it to prevent the Uruks from breaking through and overwhelming them. The Uruks broke through the main gate and everyone rushed there to hold them back. Idrial jumped from above the gate and landed on an Uruk, she stabbed it and then began to cut down the Uruks running towards them, Aragorn sent her a questioning look as he fought alongside her.

"Not my best idea." She commented, Aragorn chuckled then returned to killing the Uruks. Elegost stayed further back and shot at the Uruk Hai as most of the soldiers charged into the Uruk army, they were determined to survive.

**A/N: Okay that was longer than I thought it would be, I promise to finish writing the battle and move on with the story in the next chapter.**

**Please review.**


	15. Victory Comes At A Price

**Author's Note: Sorry for the extremely long wait, I've been really ill but I am a lot better than I was so here is the new chapter! 15 chapters already! I think this fic will be between 20-25 chapters, and there will definitely be a sequel, I plan on writing at least another two fics after this one.**

**Disclaimer: I only own my OC's that are listed in chapter 1**

**Elvish will be in italics**

**Mental communication will be in bold italics**

**Chapter 15: Victory comes at a price**

"Fall back! Fall back!" Theoden ordered as he and his guards rushed inside, soldiers began to retreat and Aragorn ordered the remaining elves to fall back as well. Despite the rest of the army rushing back inside, away from the Uruks a few remained, helping to defend the others. When they began to retreat the only person who didn't leave was Idrial. As Legolas headed back inside he saw her still fighting the Uruks, intent on staying out.

"What are you doing?!" He yelled at her while trying to shoot the Uruks.

"I'm not retreating, you go if you want to!" Idrial shouted back, Legolas hated her stubborness sometimes, sighing he ran towards her, managed to pick her up and run back inside before they closed the gates, Idrial struggled and tried to escape his grasp but he didn't put her down until the soldiers had locked the gates.

When he did, Idrial sheathed her sword and then placed her hands on her hips, a fire burning in her eyes and a look of anger that could scare a troll.

"Why did you do that?!" She demanded, making Aranel, who was helping barricade the doors, wince.

"I wasn't going to leave you out there to die." Legolas answered calmly, although he was slightly intimidated, he had never seen her this angry before.

"I was fine out there!" Idrial argued, she didn't fear death, especially in battle.

"They would have overwhelmed you and killed you!" Legolas snapped, how could she so freely risk her life?

"At least I would have died with honor!" She yelled, the tiny bit of patience she had left running out.

"I wasn't going to leave you out there to die." Legolas argued.

"I didn't need saving." Idrial replied, lowering her voice, Legolas looked at his feet, knowing that there was no use in arguing with her. Idrial sighed, a wave of guilt passing through her and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"I understand if you want to protect me, but don't try to save me, it's easier for both of us that way." She said softly before walking over to Aragorn and the king. Aranel gave Legolas a sympathetic look.

"_She'll be grateful eventually, when she gets like this it's best to just leave her be. Thank you for saving her though." _ He said kindly.

"_Like I said to her, I wasn't going to leave her out there to die." _Legolas replied.

"_I'm glad she has you and Aragorn looking out for her, you don't know how important you are to her." _ Aranel muttered.

_"_Is there no other way for the women and children to escape?" Aragorn questioned, nobody answered.

"Is there no other way!" He demanded.

"There is a way that leads into the mountains but they won't get far." Gamling answered.

"Tell them to go through the mountains and barricade the door." Aragorn said sternly, Gamling nodded and Theoden looked around the room at those who were still alive.

"Such hate, what can men do against reckless hate." He muttered.

"Ride out with me." Aragorn replied.

"For death and for glory." Theoden said to himself.

"For Rohan and your people." Aragorn answered.

The army quickly organised themselves and sat on horses behind the gate, once the Uruk Hai had broken through they charged forward, killing as many as they could, they rode through the fortress and out onto the causeway and kept riding until they reached the middle of the Uruk army and continued cutting down the Uruks.

As the first cracks of dawn began to appear over the hillside, Aragorn looked up and as promised, Gandalf was there. Eomer appeared alongside him and the banished riders appeared behind them and they charged down the hill towards the Uruk Hai. When they reached them the Uruks were easily killed and those that survived fled back towards Isengard. Aranel looked up and saw that there was suddenly a forest that had not been there before.

_**"Ents." **_Aranel realised as there was a groaning noise and the sound of breaking bones when the Uruks entered the forest.

_**"If Saruman's army is completely destroyed then Rohan will no longer be under threat." **_Idrial replied, at this Aranel knew the plan she was thinking of.

"_**No, Ria you are not attacking Isengard, Saruman would kill you." **_He said sternly.

_**"My dear younger brother that is where you are wrong, why would Saruman kill us when we are so important to his master?" **_Idrial pointed out, Aranel scowled, he hated it when she mentioned that he was younger, a few minutes shouldn't make a difference.

_**"Fine, he will defeat you, give you to Sauron who will torture you and kill you." **_ Aranel argued.

_**"But.."**_

_**"Idrial, I swear to Eru I will make sure that someone is always with you so you don't sneak off." **_He interrupted.

_**"Fine."**_ She grumbled as she rode back into the keep.

**A/N: That's all for this chapter, I promise I will try and update soon, and make next chapter special.**

**Please review.**


	16. Aftermath

**Author's Note: I'm sorry to say that I won't be able to update again until the end of June, I have 21 exams to study for that are very important as it will affect me achieving my dream and are my qualifications. (For those of you that live in England I'm sure you realise that I'm talking about GCSE's)**

**Disclaimer: I only own my OC's that are listed in Chapter 1**

**Elvish will be in italics**

**Mental Communication will be in bold italics.**

**Chapter 16: Aftermath**

Idrial walked around what was left of the Deeping Wall, seeing all of the fallen elves. She had known most of them, and fought alongside them, although she hadn't befriended them having spent so much time with the rangers that and the fact that everyone seemed to prefer her brother. So many of the dead were recruits that she had taught, Orophin walked over and stood with her.

"So much death." He muttered.

"Thank you, for coming to our aid. Without it we would have all been slaughtered before dawn." Idrial replied, being relatively young amongst the elves she had never seen so much death in one place, and never seen so many of her kindred slain.

"Had it not been for the orc attacks on Lothlorien I am sure that your grandparents would have sent the entire army, they wouldn't leave you to be killed like this." Orophin stated, almost sure that this was the case.

"You overestimate them, as long as they have Aranel they won't care about me." Idrial muttered, Orophin almost laughed, she was a lot like her father but she definitely had her grandfather's temper.

"I think you underestimate them." He replied.

"I don't, they need an heir who will be able to rule once they leave, Aranel is a diplomat, I negotiate with weapons, not words." Idrial argued.

"Very well. Thank you for helping my brother, I thought he was going to be killed." Orophin said calmly, Idrial smiled.

"I'm just glad I was able to save one life." She replied, Orophin left to go check on Haldir but Idrial stayed, for some reason she couldn't bring herself to leave.

"Have they counted the bodies yet?" Legolas asked, carefully avoiding stepping on any corpses as he walked towards her.

"No, in a few days they will be counted and burned, then the survivors will go back to Lorien." Idrial muttered.

"You've never seen this many elves die, have you?" Legolas questioned.

"The only elves I had ever seen killed before now were my parents, and I didn't have time to grieve." She replied, what worried her the most was that it could have been Aranel amongst the bodies.

"And now its worse?" Legolas asked, Idrial nodded.

"I thought I was used to death,I thought I could cope with it." She muttered, Legolas placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Which is why you've always tried to avoid being friends with people?" He questioned, she nodded again.

"The less people I care about, the less likely I am to get hurt." She replied. She shuffled her feet awkwardly, unsure of what else to say.

"I'm sorry, for everything. I'd understand if you hate me or never want to speak to me again." She muttered, knowing that things would never be the way they used to, there was no chance of that anymore.

"I'll never be able to hate you." Legolas replied, smiling at her, she smiled back but it only made her feel worse, because he would always forgive her, no matter how much hurt she caused.

"Perhaps you should try to, it would make things easier. Once the war has ended, if I'm not dead I'll be stuck in Lorien, it would be easier for both of us if you hated me." She muttered, avoiding eye contact.

"Maybe but it would be dull." Legolas replied, Idrial smiled and placed her hand on her forehead.

"Are you alright?" Legolas asked, concerned.

"I'm sure I'll be fine. I'm probably just drained, I'll go get some rest and I'll be fine." She replied calmly before heading back to the keep.

-Page Break-

Aranel was sat with Aragorn, Orophin and Theoden, currently discussing the best way to care for Haldir. Aragorn had noticed that the young elf had become noticeably paler, and was unsure of what to do.

"Perhaps Haldir should remain here with a group of healers, and return to Lorien when his strength returns." Aragorn suggested.

"That could work, Orophin could lead the remaining elves back to Lorien, since I am staying to protect my sister." Aranel agreed.

"We will make sure he is safe here and treat the healers as though they are our own." Theoden replied, Orophin nodded, as much as he didn't want to leave his brother he knew that there was nothing else he could do. Theoden stood up and went to attend other matters, Orophin went to see Haldir and Aragorn helped Aranel get up. Aranel began to walk away when suddenly he fell to the ground. Several elves and Aragorn rushed over and tried to wake him up.

"Shit." Aragorn muttered as he couldn't get Aranel to wake up.

"_Take him to the healers, I will find Idrial and bring her to him." _Aragorn ordered, he only managed to walk a few feet when he saw two soldiers carrying Idrial's limp body. He followed them to where the elven healers were set up, if it affected both of them then they were really in trouble.

Elladan and Elrohir sat in the healers room, Idrial and Aranel had been placed on beds, every so often they would flinch. Aragorn had gone to find Gandalf when none of the healers were able to help them. Legolas and Aragorn turned up with Gandalf and Elegost and Berethor appeared shortly after. Gandalf placed a hand over Aranel's head and immediately knew what had to be done.

"It is dark magic, it appears that Sauron is aware of their existence and has attacked them." He explained, almost everyone paled with worry.

"Can you help them?" Elladan asked, it seemed his cousins always managed to find trouble. Gandalf nodded and asked everyone to leave, he would be using powerful spells not used for thousands of years, it was best if they kept a good distance.

Unaware of the situation, Gimli, Hadhod, Morwen and Eaoden were celebrating the victory, and what better way to do that than a drinking contest? According to the dwarves there was no better way. As hours passed and dusk fell both Eaoden and Morwen were passed out on the floor, and Hadhod was one pint away from joining them. Legolas sat opposite the dwarves and decided to have some ale himself, it wasn't like he had anything better to do, of course sitting with two extremely drunk dwarves probably wouldn't help either.

"Something troubling you laddie?" Gimli slurred, before erupting into laughter as Hadhod fell over.

"I'm trying to stop myself from marching into Mordor and killing every orc I see." He said darkly, even a drunken Gimli could tell that the elf was angry.

"Well princeling there is a perfectly good wall over there if you need to hit something." Gimli replied, Legolas slammed the mug of ale into the table.

"That would be a great way to break my hand." Legolas muttered, anger really didn't suit him.

"I may be drunk, but even I can tell that you're worried about something else." Gimli slurred, downing another mug of ale.

"Maybe because Aranel and Idrial got attacked by Sauron's magic and only Eru knows if they will even survive!" Legolas shouted, luckily there weren't many people in the hall.

"So you're worried about the elf lass." Gimli grinned, he had an opportunity for endless teasing.

"I'm worried that if Sauron has attacked them, who's next?" Legolas argued, Gimli just shook his head and grinned.

"Don't try to lie to me princeling, everyone knows you love that elf girl except for her." Gimli replied, Legolas frowned.

"Well it doesn't matter, nothing is going to happen." He muttered staring into the new mug of ale in his hands.

"Well it won't if you don't tell her that you love her. I gave the same advice to Hadhod about 30 years ago, and he ended up marrying his girl and he had 3 sons with her." Gimli argued, his best advice was always given when he was drunk, although his timing wasn't always brilliant as Idrial, who had walked into the hall, heard everything, Gimli spat out his ale and started laughing when he realised she was there. Legolas stood up and turned around and saw her. He promptly turned back towards Gimli, hit him on his head and then turned back towards Idrial.

"Should you be walking around?" Legolas asked.

"Gandalf said I was okay, Sauron thought he could break us by trying to scare us. Aranel was a little shaken up, we saw some pretty bad things." She explained, although she wouldn't admit it, it was obvious that she was shaken up by it as well.

"As long as you're okay." Legolas muttered, Idrial nodded and walked towards him. To his surprise she leaned in and kissed him, and without thinking he broke the kiss and just looked at her questioningly.

"I'm not going to be a fool anymore, you deserve better than that." She muttered, this time he kissed her, and swore to himself that he would protect her no matter what.

**A/N: So next chapter will be Saruman, I hope you all enjoyed and don't forget to click the little review button below and let me know what you think.**


	17. Negotiations

**Author's Note: I am so sorry for the lack of updates, I finished my exams and then got even busier. I've been wanting to update but most of the time I've been out all day either in a cricket match or training and when I get back I'm so tired I don't have the energy to write. So updates will be very random and I do apologise, so I will update when I can.**

**Disclaimer: I only own my OC's that are listed in chapter 1**

**Elvish will be in italics**

**Mental communication will be in bold italics**

**Chapter 17: Negotiations**

The following morning Theoden set off for Isengard with Eomer, Gamling, Gandalf, Aranel, Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli, Berethor, Idrial, Elegost, Hadhod, Eaoden and Morwen, while the rest of the rohirrim returned to Edoras. It was about midday when they reached Fangorn Forest, and of course Gimli and Hadhod were not pleased, especially after they had been told old rohirrim tales of the forest.

"They can sense your fear, you have no reason to be afraid." Idrial called to them, she was riding ahead with Elegost and Aragorn, they had been discussing the north until then.

"Tis not natural, talking trees, the fact that you can hear them." Hadhod complained.

"It was the elves who first spoke to the trees, eventually teaching them to speak." Legolas pointed out, Hadhod snorted.

"Just another thing we have to thank your kind for." He moaned, Elegost was struggling to suppress a laugh as was Aragorn.

"Like we can thank your kind for reclaiming Erebor and being the main cause of the battle of five armies." Aranel pointed, Idrial laughed, at the time she and Aranel had been following the dwarves on their quest and didn't really fight on anyone's side during that battle, they were just there to kill the orcs. It was there that Aranel felt that he had avenged their parents, whilst Idrial still wasn't satisfied, she wouldn't be until Sauron was destroyed.

'_**Everyone is in high spirits even you.' Aranel teased.**_

_**'Well an army of five hundred just defeated one of ten thousand, I think I have a reason to be cheerful.' Idrial retorted.**_

_**'Don't try to lie to me, I know the real reason.' Aranel argued.**_

_**'And here comes the lecture.' She said, agitated.**_

_**'You know what grandfather will say.' Aranel pointed out.**_

_**'I know, I'll just wait for you to screw up before I tell him, that way he'll be less angry about it.' She replied, Aranel sighed.**_

_**'Such a kind sister.' Aranel said sarcastically, Idrial grinned.**_

"Do not let Saruman speak, he will try to put a spell on you." Gandalf warned them as they approached what was left of Isengard.

"If he refuses to co-operate, who gets to make him speak?" Idrial asked, other than orcs and Sauron, betrayal was the one thing she hated most.

"Idrial Araduriel if you cannot see past your anger and let us negotiate without the need for weapons then you will be of no use here and should return to Edoras." Gandalf said sternly, Aranel stifled a laugh and Idrial glared at him. They approached Isengard only to see the outerwall in ruins, and two hobbits sat down, smoking.

"Welcome my lords and ladies to Isengard!" Merry exclaimed.

"You little rascals!" Gimli shouted, secretly he was relieved to see them alive. Aragorn couldn't help but stifle a laugh. Merry and Pippin shared horses with Aragorn and Gandalf and gave their best explanation of what happened. Aranel and Idrial weren't paying attention to what the hobbits said, both of them felt a strange sense of unease, as if there was a more powerful presence than Saruman, whatever it was, they felt as though it was watching them. They carried on towards the tower where Saruman was trapped, Gandalf spoke with Treebeard before Saruman appeared at the top of Orthanc.

"You've had fought many wars and slain many men ,Theoden king, and made peace afterwards, can we not have peace now?" Saruman asked.

"We will have peace when you answer for the burning of the westfold and the children that lay dead there, when you hang from a gibbet for the sport of your own crows! We will have peace." Theoden shouted.

"Saruman, you were deep in the enemy's counsel, tell us what you know and you will be free." Gandalf called up to him.

"Save your pity and your mercy, I have no use for it!" Saruman yelled, sending a fire bolt down at Gandalf, in an instant Idrial and Aranel had arrows ready and aimed at Saruman.

"The young elf twins, how remarkable that you survived, that shows just how incompetent Sauron's orcs were. They should have killed you when they had the chance." Saruman snarled, Aranel looked at Gandalf who shook his head.

"And who is this, this ranger of the north will never be crowned king!" Saruman spat.

"He isn't going to tell us anything, let's just have his head and be done with it." Gimli complained, Gandalf nodded, if they couldn't get any information they couldn't have him help Sauron anymore. Aranel shot at Saruman and killed him.

Pippin suddenly jumped off Shadowfax, he had seen something mysterious in the the water and picked it up, he was not sure what it was, whatever it was it was surrounded by a tainted aura.

"I'll take that Peregrin Took." Gandalf said sternly, he wrapped it up and stuffed it in his cloak before helping Pippin back onto the horse, Aranel and Idrial suddenly felt a lot safer.

**"The Palantir." **Aranel explained, Idrial agreed with him.

**"I would prefer it if it was left here, Sauron could be watching us, but it may be safer, I wouldn't want any orcs or wildmen to find it." **Idrial replied.

**"We will have to keep well away from it, I fear the damage Sauron could do with it.**" Aranel muttered, Idrial made sure to keep her distance from Gandalf, they were still weak from the attack they had experienced, if they attempted to use the palantir, she knew Sauron had the power to kill them.

**A/N: Again sorry this took so long. Also please review, I can't improve this fic or guess if people like it or not if I only have one person reviewing, so please can you review, it would really help and can only improve my writing.**


	18. A Celebration Of Sorts

**Author's Note: Sorry for the wait, I am hoping to get a few updates posted before I start school again. And sorry that I haven't really paid much attention to some of the characters especially Morwen and Eaoden, I'll try to correct that in this chapter.**

**Disclaimer: I only own my OC's that are listed in chapter 1.**

**Elvish will be in italics**

**Chapter 18: A Celebration of sorts.**

Upon returning to Edoras a great celebration was to be held in honour of their victory, while most people seemed to be enjoying themselves there were many people grieving, so many lives had been lost, and there were those that feared another attack. Eowyn was still furious that she hadn't been allowed to fight, finding out that Morwen had been allowed into battle had done nothing to improve her mood. They'd said that they needed every sword, then refused to let her fight! Still she was relieved for the safe return of her brother and uncle and was also glad to see that Aragorn was still alive as well.

Morwen was still trying to clean her axes from the battle, what surprised her most other than the fact that they had survived was that nobody felt tired until after the battle, when they had all been travelling and then fighting. She also felt about more content now, certain that she had killed the orcs that killed her family. The war had already been costly for her, she wondered how many others would share a similar fate. Eaoden sat down next to her, he had lost several friends to the wargs and now lost more in that battle, but the threat was away from their home for now, and some people could begin to rebuild their homes.

"It's ridiculous." He muttered, Morwen looked at him, confused.

"How can they celebrate when so many people were killed? Most of the children made to fight were killed and Theoden wants us to celebrate?" He questioned, he knew that the Uruks would show no mercy but so few of the children had survived, so many mothers had lost their sons**. **

"We triumphed in a battle against desperate odds, five hundred of us killed ten thousand Uruk-hai. Think about the positives for once Eaoden." Morwen replied, getting up.

"Well at least the six of us survived I suppose." Eaoden mumbled, Morwen laughed at him.

"Exactly, keep thinking about positives like that." She chuckled.

"I'm surprised that out of all of us you are thinking positively." Eaoden stated, Morwen sighed, she knew someone would try to talk about that.

"There's a time and place to grieve and it isn't in the middle of a war."

Berethor was sat with the dwarves who seemed to smile approvingly as barrels of ale were set up in the hall.

"What do we do when you both pass out dead drunk?" Berethor asked jokingly, there had been little time to joke recently.

"I don't know what you're talking about laddie, we dwarves have a high tolerance of ale, not like you Gondorian folk." Gimli laughed.

"It's true." Elegost said as he walked over to them.

"In all my years travelling with Hadhod I've never seen him pass out from too much ale."

"I don't believe it." Berethor said, smiling.

"Well then lad I'll have to challenge you later, I'll drink anyone under the table." Gimli chortled, Elegost suddenly had a very mischievous idea.

"Even one of the elves, I hear they drink large amounts of strong wine a lot?" He questioned, Gimli looked very affronted.

"Ale is completely different to wine, for one thing it's a proper drink. I could outdrink any of the elves, and I'll prove it, if you can convince the princeling to do it." He said proudly, Elegost struggled not to burst out laughing.

"I'm sure we can convince him. But do you care to make this interesting? Hadhod, Berethor we each put 10 silver pieces on whoever we think will win, if two people pick the winner then they split the money." Elegost added, feeling very mischievous indeed.

"Deal." Hadhod and Berethor answered.

"My money, is of course on Gimli." Hadhod declared.

"I'll go with Hadhod, if what they say is true." Berethor agreed.

"Well then looks like I'm betting on Legolas." Elegost said with a grin.

A few hours later and the drinking contest was about to begin, Eomer was filling the mugs with ale and there was a small gathering around the table watching. Elegost, Hadhod and Berethor were there obviously, Aragorn was also interested in this as were Eaoden and Morwen, Idrial was there as well as Elladan and Elrohir who had decided to stay after the battle, Aranel however was busy consulting with Gandalf.

"No spills, no pauses." Eomer explained briefly placing mugs in front of the elf and dwarf.

"And no regurgitation!" Gimli cheered, a few more of the rohirrim gathered round to watch.

"So it's a drinking game?" Legolas questioned.

"Last one standing wins, not that you need to worry about that, I doubt and elvish princeling like you can hold their liquor." Gimli taunted him. Legolas just picked up the mug of ale and looked at it, it had a rather unusual brownish colour so he just shut his eyes and downed it, surprised by the taste, he had expected something much worse. It went on for a little while and the mugs were beginning to pile up, Eaoden and Morwen left, thinking that it would go on for a few hours yet, Aragorn had gone to speak with Gandalf and Eomer was beginning to worry that the barrel would be empty soon. Suddenly Gimli slammed his mug onto the table.

"It's the dwarves that go swimming with little hairy women!" He declared, to which most of the people gathered round had no idea what he was on about. Legolas put down his mug and raised his hand, examining it.

"I feel something, a slight tingle in my fingers, I think it's affecting me." He muttered, Elegost raised an eyebrow, worried that his foolproof plan wasn't so foolproof after all.

"What did I say! He can't hold his liquor!" Gimli cheered, he then promptly went cross-eyed and fell backwards, Elegost couldn't help but laugh.

"Pleasure doing business with you." He said while grinning as Berethor and Hadhod handed over their money before going to help the Rohirrim move Gimli. Elladan and Elrohir went to talk to Legolas.

"So I guess you didn't tell him that we are immune to the affects of alcohol?" Elladan questioned.

"Of course I didn't tell him." Legolas answered although he seemed completly uninterested in their conversation, Elladan looked behind him and smiled.

"It's because we aren't blonde Ro." Elladan said while laughing, as they left Idrial went to speak to Legolas.

"When he wakes up he's going to hate you." She muttered.

"No he won't, when he wakes up he'll have one hell of a hangover and won't even think about how mad he'll be at me." Legolas replied.

"I'm sure you're trying to get yourself killed, first you volunteer to go to Mordor, then you pulled your little stunt at Helm's Deep and now you're the target of a dwarf's anger." Idrial said accusingly.

"You're pulling stunts like that all the time. You're the one trying to get themself killed." Legolas argued, although they weren't being serious.

"I am sure I don't know what you're talking about." Idrial muttered.

"What a pair we make." Legolas mumbled. Aranel walked over to them.

"If you don't mind I'd like a word with my sister." It was clearly rhetorical so Legolas walked away, Aranel rarely seemed to get angry or annoyed and now he seemed at the very least unhappy. He decided it would be best if they spoke outside away from all the noise and so out they went where it was quiet.

"What's going on?" Idrial asked, she knew he had been speaking with Gandalf earlier.

"I think we should go home." Aranel muttered.

"Then you can go, but I'm staying here, the war is here, my friends are here." Idrial replied.

"We both need to go, don't make a rash decision. Our family is back home, and they are under attack by orcs out of Dol Guldur." Aranel explained.

"Aranel you are not going to convince me to leave, my loyalty is to the rangers, I will be there whether Aragorn takes the throne of Gondor or all our hopes fail." Idrial argued.

"Does Lorien mean nothing to you? It is our home, we must defend it." Aranel stated.

"Your thoughts betray you, I know you are lying, you have no intention of returning home to aid the defense, you want me to go home to keep me away from Legolas." Idrial muttered before walking back inside, suddenly in need of a few drinks herself.

Berethor and Elegost had joined most of the other people who were crowded round the table with the hobbits, who were singing, dancing and drinking at the same time. Berethor noticed that Elegost hadn't had any ale all night.

"How come you haven't drunk anything?" He asked.

"I haven't drunk any ale since I got married, I promised my wife I wouldn't I have made too many mistakes as a result of drinking too much." Elegost explained.

"You never told us you were married." Berethor muttered.

"Hadhod and Idrial are the only ones who knew out of the five of you." Elegost replied.

"How come you never told us about her?" Berethor asked.

"She is one of the half-elven, she chose mortality for me, but I haven't seen her or my son for several years, I sent them away to Rivendell when our camp was destroyed, I couldn't face them after that and haven't seen them since. I hope they have sailed, at least they will be safe there." Elegost answered.

"I'm sorry I shouldn't have asked." Berethor muttered.

"No my friend, I think it has done me good to talk about it, I also think that I want an ale."

**A/N: So a bit more on Elegost's past there, hope you all enjoyed and don't forget to review, let me know whose backstory you want in more detail next chapter.**


	19. The Palantir and a Fool of a Took

**Author's Note: So here is another update I'm really enjoying writing this fic and I'm trying to update as much as I can before school starts.**

**Disclaimer: I only own my OC's that are listed in chapter 1**

**Elvish will be in italics.**

**Chapter 19: The Palantir and a Fool of a Took.**

Once the celebration had ended most people stumbled back to their homes, Gimli was still passed out in the hall with a few others who weren't able to go back to their homes. Everybody seemed to be asleep except for Aragorn and Legolas who were stood outside, probably to get away from the incredibly loud snoring of the dwarves. They were also concerned about Frodo, knowing that Sauron would be eager to bring down the world of men after the defeat at Helm's Deep and Saruman's demise.

While everyone else was asleep Pippin was awake, his curiosity about the palantir overwhelming him, carefully he tiptoed across the room towards Gandalf, while everyone else remained asleep Merry woke up.

"What are you doing pip?" Merry whispered, he didn't want to wake anyone else up.

"I'm just looking." Pippin replied, making sure to stay quiet enough not to wake up the others. Carefully he slipped the Palantir away from Gandalf and replaced it with a jug so as not to disturb him.

"Pippin!" Merry exclaimed, still whispering though. Pippin removed the cloth and picked up the Palantir, he then started screaming and writhing on the ground unable to let go of the palantir, everyone woke up, Legolas and Aragorn darted inside, Morwen and Idrial burst through the door, weapons at the ready. Aragorn took the Palantir from Pippin and fell backwards, luckily Legolas was there to stop him hitting the ground as the Palantir rolled along the ground, Gandalf threw the cloth over it.

"Fool of a took!" He bellowed, but when he turned round Pippin was frozen stiff. Berethor placed a hand on Merry's shoulder, in an attempt at comfort. Morwen lowered her axes, Since she had been sharing a smaller room with Eowyn, Idrial and a few other women she thought it best to bring weapons as did Idrial.

"What happened, tell me everything." Gandalf snipped.

"He asked my name, I didn't answer, he hurt me. I saw a white tree burning." Pippin said weakly.

"There was no lie in Pippin's eye, he told Sauron nothing of Frodo and the ring. A fool, but an honest fool he remains." Gandalf explained to Theoden, who had gathered everyone into the hall.

"We are fortunate, for we were able to obtain a glimpse at the enemy's plans, Sauron will strike Minas Tirith. If the beacons of Gondor are lit, Rohan must be ready for war." Gandalf continued.

"Tell me Gandalf, why should we go to the aid of those who did not come to ours?" Theoden questioned, Berethor wanted to scream at him.

"They had no way of knowing, nor did you send for help!" He burst out, his mother, father and brother were in Minas Tirith.

"I will go to Gondor!" Aragorn declared.

"I will join you." Berethor added.

"No, you must come to Minas Tirith by another road, I will be going to Gondor, and I won't be going alone." Gandalf replied, with a look directed at Pippin.

Once Gandalf left there was little to do other than wait, some people were cleaning up from the celebration, others were making sure all their armor was ready and there were those like Berethor who were just sitting around doing nothing. Now he knew his home was under threat it was difficult to get him to eat or sleep.

"You're not going to help anyone by not eating laddie." Gimli muttered, Berethor just shrugged.

"It is a three day ride to Minas Tirith, Gandalf will make sure those beacons are lit." Gimli added, suddenly Hadhod came storming over.

"Well I don't bloody believe it!" He grumbled, causing him to receive some questioning looks.

"Aragorn just told me that elves can't get drunk. Elegost has played us for a bunch of fools." He said angrily.

"That bloody princeling made me look like a fool who can't hold their liquor!" Gimli complained.

"I say we get our revenge, they'll won't want to cross us again." Hadhod grumbled.

"Ai, what say you laddie, the ranger did get your money too?" Gimli asked.

"It would take my mind off Gondor I suppose." Berethor said hesitantly, the dwarves smiled and began scheming.

There were two angry dwarves inside the hall plotting revenge and a very angry elf outside currently taking her anger out on some targets although it was doing very little to improve her mood, Morwen walked over just as Idrial decapitated one of the targets.

"Remind me never to get on your bad side, I pity the person who upsets you." Morwen joked.

"You shouldn't, he's an idiot." Idrial replied, Morwen raised an eyebrow.

"Clearly, but if I were you I'd wait and take out my anger on the orcs." Morwen pointed out, Idrial thought about it and put her sword away.

"Good point. Perhaps we should make everyone furious before we fight in Minas Tirith, we'd win the battle then." She muttered, only half-joking.

"That or they would try to kill us." Morwen said while laughing.

"Even if they did, Eaoden wouldn't let you get hurt." Idrial replied, Morwen gave her a questioning look.

"All I'm saying is that he seems to care about you a lot, he was constantly looking at you making sure you were okay at Helm's Deep." Idrial explained.

"And what about Aragorn's elf companion? He seems to pay a lot of attention to you." Morwen replied, trying to change the subject, Idrial gave a wry smile.

"That's different, for one he knows my feelings whereas Eaoden can only guess yours." She pointed out.

"Well he could have picked a better time, than a war when every last one of us could be killed." Morwen muttered.

"You think we will lose this war?" Idrial asked, Morwen nodded.

"I think we will be too late, and Minas Tirith will have fallen by the time we get there. Do you mean to say that you have hope?" She replied.

"If Sauron was defeated when he had the ring then I see no reason why he cannot be defeated now when he does not have full strength." Idrial answered.

"Back then there were a lot more soldiers, Gondor was strong and so were the elves, now it is only men left to challenge him." Morwen pointed out.

"My kin would aid us if they could, there is a war in the north as there is in the south, Lothlorien and Mirkwood are under attack every day, Sauron knows that if the free folk were to unite, there would be little chance of him winning the war, he has divided us, but men are not as weak as he thinks."

It was late the next morning when Hadhod, Gimli and Berethor decided to exact their revenge, lucky for them Elegost was tired from their dwarves snoring keeping him up and Legolas could not recall the last time he had slept and decided he probably needed some rest. So ever so quietly Berethor snuck in and stole their packs, then waved for Hadhod and Gimli to walk in, the two dwarves were carrying rather large buckets of some very cold water and crept towards the sleeping elf and ranger. A few seconds later they tipped the buckets onto their victims who jumped up very quickly. The snickering dwarves and gondorian ran rather quickly however the elf and ranger stood there, still shocked by what happened, then Berethor poked his head through the door.

"By the way, we took all your dry clothes." He said while grinning, he then sprinted to the other side of the hall where Gimli, Hadhod and just about everyone was gathered. Elegost and Legolas burst in, much to the amusment of their friends, and everyone, even Theoden and Gamling were laughing.

"Consider this a lesson lads, never cross a dwarf." Hadhod said, this caused another burst of laughter from almost everyone, although Aragorn was shaking head while struggling not to laugh. Aranel was unimpressed, did they really think that a war was a suitable time for antics like this? Elegost and Legolas were still fuming especially when they didn't know where their packs had been hidden.

"Are any of you nice enough to tell us where our things have been hidden?" Elegost asked, there were a few giggles but nobody said anything. Legolas suddenly came up with his own slightly devious plan to find out where their things were, he made his way over to everyone who were all giving him suspicious looks, wondering what on earth he was up to, still soaking wet he hugged Idrial, who did not appreciate the cold water to say the least.

"Okay tell him where you hid their things." She snapped, suddenly not enjoying it as much.

"Sorry but collateral damage, much funnier to leave them as they are." Hadhod snickered, Idrial glowered at him, Berethor felt a bit sympathetic and wasn't pleased that someone else had ended up being caught up in their prank as well and handed back their packs.

"Shame really, I was quite enjoying laughing at them." Gimli muttered.

"I was too, until Legolas ruined it for me." Idrial said with a pointed look at the elf, who made a mental note not to try that again.

**A/N: I really enjoyed writing this chapter so I hope you all enjoyed reading it, I'm sure you can guess what will happen in the next chapter, I plan on going into a bit more detail on one of the character's backstory, but I want you to choose so please review and tell me which character's past you would like to appear in the next chapter.**


	20. Riding To War

**Author's note: So I hope everyone enjoyed the last chapter, thank you for your lovely reviews, special mentions to Violet Eagle and Littlemissthunderbird. **

**Disclaimer: I only own my OCs that are listed in chapter 1.**

**Elvish will be in italics**

**Chapter 20: Riding to war**

Aragorn had for the most part been keeping watch for the beacons for the last few days,he knew it wouldn't happen immediately but he was still concerned. Waiting for the tiniest flicker of a flame from the mountains, a flicker of hope for men, for Gondor. The last few days had been relatively quiet, everyone suddenly had become worried that the beacons wouldn't be lit. Aragorn squinted and yawned, tired from staying awake for so long. Shifting slightly, he tried to get comfortable, while it wasn't the best idea not to sleep, he didn't really care, all his years in the wild had prepared him for this, he had so many sleepless nights then that a few days shouldn't matter now. He thought his mind was playing tricks on him when he saw a faint flicker of light in the mountains. But no it was real, the beacons had been lit, he rushed up the steps and into the great hall, breathless when he arrived.

"The beacons are lit." He exclaimed, still breathless.

"Gondor calls for aid!" Theoden thought about it for a moment before answering.

"And Rohan shall answer."

In the next few hours everyone rushed into action, gathering supplies and readying their horses, Aragorn didn't care about sleep anymore. Berethor was somewhat relieved that they were going to Gondor but still full of worry, knowing full well that they could be too late. Elegost was slightly uneasy, he was accustomed to stealth and secrecy for taking out his enemies, he had never been taught how to fight in a battle as big as this, and this time there would be more enemies, and no advantage of having a fortress. Hadhod was, much to the surprise of everyone else, actually looking forward to the battle, he wanted revenge for his sons and there was nothing that a dwarf loved more than warfare, except maybe ale and gold. Eaoden and Morwen tried to act relaxed, but they were worried for the future of their realm. Idrial just remained silent, the battle wasn't the only thing playing on her mind. Elladan and Elrohir noticed how everyone seemed depressed, they all thought this would be their deaths, or so it seemed, and they decided to change it.

"At least we won't be fenced in a fortress fighting thousands of orcs." Elrohir joked.

"We might not be, but the people in the city will be trapped and mostly defenseless." Berethor muttered, voicing what everyone was thinking.

"We bring hope to Gondor, thinking like that will not bring us victory." Theoden called back to them from the head of the column. Everyone forced smiles, despite the lack of optimism. Many generations had passed since the last battle of this scale, in the second age, nobody not even any of the elves were alive then. They arrived at Dunharrow a few hours later, tents were set up and fires were built. It was still a long ride to Gondor and not all of the riders had arrived, they were waiting for the riders from Snowbourne and the Westfold. Aragorn's lack of sleep was starting to affect him, whenever he tried to sleep he was awoken by nightmares. Elladan and Elrohir felt some sympathy for him, they daren't tell him how Arwen had been faring in his absence.

Aragorn wasn't the only one struggling to sleep, Idrial had lost track of how long she had been lying awake for, the battle being one of the things troubling, sighing she turned over, wondering if ignoring Aranel was the right decision, but she didn't have it in her to forgive him. Deciding that stretching her legs might do her some good, she got up and put on her cloak. For once she was actually nervous before battle.

"_I thought you were sleeping." _Legolas muttered

_"I couldn't." _Idrial replied.

"_What's troubling you?" Legolas asked._

_"A lot of things, the battle mostly." Idrial muttered, Legolas looked surprised._

_"It's not like you to be worried before a battle." _

_"I've changed so much recently that I don't think I'm ever going to be like I used to be. A lot has happened these last few months." Idrial whispered, staring at her feet._

_"So why are you so worried about the battle?" Legolas asked._

_"It's not so much the battle as losing the people I care about to it." Idrial said softly, she'd acted like this before._

_"Everyone will be fine; Aranel, Aragorn, Elladan, Elrohir and your companions will all be fine, they're all experienced and excellent warriors." Legolas attempted to reassure her. _

_"I'm worried about you too."_

_"I'll be fine. We'll both be fine, I promise you." Legolas said softly._

_"You'd better be right, I don't want to lose you." _Idrial whispered, slipping her arms round his neck, he smiled and slid his arms around her waist.

"We'll be alright." He was trying so hard to reassure her, he had to tell himself it would be true, he suddenly realised just how much he had to lose.

Aranel wasn't far away and had seen them walk off together, he didn't want his sister to get hurt, and thought that was exactly what would happen eventually. He sat down next to Elladan and Elrohir who had been laughing.

"Absolutely hilarious, both of you." Aranel grumbled.

"So Ro, how long before Aranel completely loses it?"

"Can't be long, Dan, just wait." Elrohir snickered.

Everyone else seemed to be worried, the dwarves were as cheerful as ever and it was scaring some of the soldiers more.

"What I'd give for a hundred dwarf soldiers, fully armed and filthy!" Hadhod cheered. Elegost just sighed, he didn't know what it was with dwarves and battle.

"I'd give almost anything for the rangers to be here, to die fighting with my brothers." Elegost muttered. Berethor sat down with them, a little paler than usual, noticing this Elegost placed a hand on the Gondorian's shoulder, but it made him jump. Just as that happened Morwen, Eaoden and Idrial walked over.

"Aragorn is taking the paths of the dead. Legolas and Gimli go with him." Berethor explained, everyone was silent, if Aragorn was killed, the hope of men went with him.

**A/N: I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, sorry for the wait, I have had a lot of school work recently.**

**Please review.**


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